Plastic has never been so fascinating. In this workshop, participants explore it as a living material: melting, blowing, stretching, bending… to transform a material considered ordinary into unprecedented sculptural forms. Elegant distortions, surprising curves, reinvented beauty: a bold and poetic new vision of plastic, at the service of design and creation.
Upon completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:
Today, plastic suffers from a widespread negative reputation. Present in all its uses, it has become an anonymous, smooth, and disposable material, a symbol of standardized industrial production. Considered by many to have "ruined our century," it nevertheless remains a material with unsuspected potential.
This workshop offers a different perspective. Participants will explore two fundamental questions: Is there a way to move beyond the current industrial uses of plastic? Can we shift our perspective to reveal a new understanding and unprecedented creative potential?
It is precisely this reflection that led Dorian Renard to treat plastic like glass: to blow it, melt it, and admire it with the same fascination we reserve for glass. During the workshop, participants will learn to melt, blow, stretch, and bend plastic, thus transforming their perception of the material. The goal: to create an elegant distortion that offers a new vision of plastic and redefines the notion of beauty. A seductive beauty, twisted, deformed, and folded, far removed from the industrial coldness and somber character often attributed to it.
Through this experimental approach, plastic becomes a living material, capable of surprising, seducing, and telling stories, opening up a new field of exploration for designers, artists, and those curious about new forms.
Morning and Afternoon
Morning and Afternoon
Morning and Afternoon
Morning and Afternoon
Morning and Afternoon
PETG: transparent and resistant plastic, easy to heat, bend, and mold. Ideal for creating shapes, playing with light, and experimenting with volume in design or visual arts.
Based in Marseille, Dorian Renard is distinguished by his sculptural and experimental practice, which plays with balance, transparency, and distortion. Fascinated by glass, he reinterprets traditional craft techniques, applying them to plastic and restoring this often-disparaged material to its former glory, thus reshaping our perception of beauty.
A graduate of the École supérieure d’art et design de Saint-Étienne, Dorian Renard began his career in London, collaborating on projects for Ikea Global and Habitat UK. However, he quickly found industrial design too detached from the physical act of creation and the material itself. His path then led him to craftsmanship, notably working alongside designer Alex de Witte, whom he accompanied to the Czech Republic to the workshops where his lighting fixtures are made. The experience of the glassmakers and their intimate dialogue with a living material marked a decisive turning point in his artistic approach.
Two years at the Design Academy Eindhoven confirmed his path: he refined his style, translated glassblowing techniques into plastic, and explored the limits of the material. His work no longer simply creates objects; it questions the meaning of forms, experiments with beauty, and celebrates the human gesture, visible in every twist and fold.
Now based in Marseille, Dorian designs and manufactures his pieces in a shared workshop near the Old Port. His collection, The Beauty of Distortion, perfectly illustrates this approach: pieces that defy standards, capture light, and play with perception, where craftsmanship meets contemporary design.
Training 100% financeable by AFDAS, or partially covered by AGEFICE.
AFDAS can fully fund training courses conducted outside of France, under certain conditions.
This program is for affiliated or registered artists and authors, as well as performing arts professionals working on a freelance basis.
If you are eligible, we encourage you to contact our sales department beforehand via the "Information Request" form to prepare your application, or to register directly through the page of your chosen training course.
Isola di San Servolo,
1, Venice, Italy 30124
T: +33 (0)3 86 45 23 42
contact@campusmana.com
