Dutch designer Richard Sluijs from RichLab in The Hague noticed a lot of used tennis balls ended up in the garbage at the tennis club where he played his games. Leading up to the 80th anniversary of the club he got the idea to give the discarded tennis balls a second life. A year long he collected those balls and constructed large scale grape bunches, consisting of 23 tennis balls each.
The early morning before the festivities would begin, Sluijs - assisted by a few 'partners in crime', amongst which two professional climbers - secretly decorated the most prominent tree on the tennis park with a large number of tennis ball bunches. Result: a free piece of recycling guerilla art, made possible by contributions of his fellow club members without anyone knowing about it. The tennis ball tree can still be seen today, amidst statues of the art gallery which is also located on the tennis grounds.
Jubilee tennis ball tree
Tennis balls rescued from the garbage, transformed in grape-like bunches
Scale model of the guerilla art plan
Preparing at the tennis grounds early in the morning
Climbers at work
Hanging the tree
Close up from down under
Wide view from down under
Colofon: tree tagged with ball and miniature RichLab flag
