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:

• Shape PETG (assemble, blow)
• Master plastic dyeing techniques
• Value plastic on the same level as glass
• Develop a subversive approach to traditional craft techniques

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 gloomy 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.

Day 1

Introduction and First Steps

Morning

• History and Culture of Plastic: Uses and Contemporary Creations
• Introduction to PETG: Characteristics and Potential
• Handling the Material
• Simple Melting Exercises

Afternoon

• Exploring Assembly Systems
• Presentation and Use of Tools
• Creating Simple Three-Dimensional Shapes
• Reflecting on Applying These Techniques to a Personal Project

Day 2

Individual Projects: Creation

Morning

• Developing the Individual Piece
• Decomposing the Shape for Assembly
• Pattern Making and Cutting of the chosen object
• Individualized follow-up by the instructor

Afternoon

• Presentation of dyeing techniques
• Practical dyeing exercises
• Applying the dye to the cut pieces

Day 3

Blowing and assembly

Morning

• Presentation of blowing methods
• Technical and aesthetic exercises

Afternoon

• Blowing and shaping the final object
• Assembling the elements

Day 4

Finalization and presentation

• Finalization of individual projects
• Group feedback and review of the Learning
• Workshop cleanup
• Campus MaNa diploma presentation

PETG: transparent and durable plastic, easy to heat, bend, and mold. Ideal for creating shapes, playing with light, and experimenting with volume in design or visual arts.

Dorian Renard

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, while also 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 this 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.

https://dorianrenard.com/

• Classroom, multipurpose room, workshops with professional equipment
• Materials provided
• Individual and collaborative work
• Workshop sessions
• Active participation and experimentation by participants are encouraged

• Group and individualized monitoring of work, regular check-ins
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Group presentation
• Attendance sheet for each half-day
• Certificate of completion issued by Campus MaNa