JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #49 - June 2009 - 24

BUSINESS Niche market Composites conform to creation The dividing line between art and design is often blurred. Julien Carretero, a French designer living in the Netherlands, explores this area through the objects he creates using a method that combines uniqueness and series production. He is aided by the flexibility of composite processing. fter graduating from the E.N.S.A.A.M.A. Olivier de Serres (National Institute for Applied Arts and Crafts) in Paris, France, and then from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design in the UK, Julien Carretero continued his studies in the IM Master course “Conceptual Design in Context” at the Design Academy Eindhoven, under the direction of Gijs Bakker (Droog Design). His thesis entitled Theme & Variations explored the border between uniqueness and serial production. After graduating, Julien decided to stay in the Netherlands to launch his own design studio, focusing on conceptual design. A complementary and consecutive chapters in the same story. Chapter one (2007) and To be continued (2007-08) Chapter one and To be continued were the outcome of Julien Carretero’s Theme & Variations thesis, which he developed while attending a Master programme at the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2007. This collection was created using a production method in which a theme including a variation is serially repeated. The repeated theme consists in casting layers of material on top of each other, each layer being a copy of the layer cast just before, while the variation results from the inner imperfection of this copy. Because of this process, the objects are The Theme & Variations thesis (2007) Theme & Variations deals with a new view on production that aims at creating unique pieces using a serial and repetitive production method. In music, a variation is a divergent element which is applied to a theme in order to modify it. Each time the theme is repeated, a variation is added to it. As a result of this process, different themes are created, all different from each other but nevertheless part of a homogeneous whole. Inspired by this process, Julien Carretero created a production method in which the variation is part of the theme itself. By repeating the theme over and over within a serial production process, each element creates results from the one before and leads to the one after. The objects produced then become the all different from each other but still linked by a shared origin. Chapter one deals with creating a real and recognizable uniqueness within serial production. Instead of leaving randomness to manage the differences, it uses the repetitive actions existing within the production process as a tool for differentiation. Each piece produced comes as a result of a process applied to the piece that came before. Each piece then exists because of the others and could not have been designed without the others. Each layer is cast on top of the one cast before, following the exact outline of it. Because of the imperfection of the cast, the object slowly mutates (see pictures from left to right). To be continued was an improvement on the Chapter one project. Materials Julien Carretero used an expanded polyurethane resin based composite material. The material is dyed through to highlight the different steps of production. The layers are cast in a flexible mould made out of a woven polyethylene mesh which perfectly adapts to the outline of the existing layers. Contact: info@juliencarretero.com More information: www.juliencarretero.com Chapter One. transforming as they are produced, therefore generating their own design. The systematic repetition of the theme then creates an object in which its repetitive production method can be read. Then, an irregular extrusion starts to grow which, once cut into pieces, gives birth to a series of objects that are 24 jec composites magazine / No49 June 2009

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #49 - June 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #49 - June 2009