Lucie Ponard material and product designer
1 Untangling
5 Digital
2020, Master’s project
2019, Workshop with Frédéric Pagace
stories in earth layers
craftsmanship 28-29
4-19
2 Recycled
6 Transplanting
2019, Exhibited in Voorlinden Museum
2020, Morphology exercise
ceramics
aesthetics
20-23
30-31
3 Knit the knit
7 Playing against
24-25
2020, Personal project featured in Anew magazine
2019, Exhibited at Triennale di Milano and Paris design week
clichés
32-33
4 Made in Hemp
2019, Project made in contact with Hollist company
26-27
UNTANGLING STORIES IN EARTH LAYERS Many landscapes are haunted by industrial histories becoming part of geology, and that we recognize as ‘nature.’ This project studies the area of Zuiderstrand and Westduinpark, in Zuidholland. Slags, by-products of the industry, waste and debris of the war are silent ‘hybrids,’ that have become part of the landscape. By giving a voice to these rejected monsters, multiple stories intersect, about the history of the netherlands, the construction of the park and the beach. With the help of a scientist and a volunteer of the park, I created a geological guide, categorizing these specimens, as well as a tour providing another way at looking at the site. I worked on reusing these rejected industrial waste as a pigment for glazing a set of three landmarks, telling different stories and trajectories of the haunted landscape.
4
STEEL SLAG
White base, 1230°
5
STEEL SLAG
This pole is located at the entrance of beach number 9. Industrial waste is scattered on a dune, but it remains unnoticed and unquestioned, even if it’s one of the most frequented place of the beach. Steel slag found on the dune is used as a pigment to glaze the pole.
6
STEEL SLAG
Steel slag without base, 1230°
Steel slag with transparent base, 1100°
7
BRICKS
This landmark is glazed using bricks as pigments. It is placed on an area where bunkers have been blown up, and pieces of bricks constitute the new local rocks.Its angled shape represents the corner of a bunker.
8
Glazing with coal ash, steel slag and bricks
9
TRANSITION OF TEXTURES
Steel slag with gradient proportions, 1230°
10
ADDED MATERIALS FROM THE BEACH
Steel slag with shells
Steel and coal ash
Steel slag with sand
Steel slag and coal ash
11
COAL ASH
Without base, 1230°
100%
100%
With transparent base, 1100°
20%
15%
10%
This pole represents outside what is happening inside. It shows the various layers of the paths that have been stacked onto one another, and that started leaking and spreading in the landscape. It has been glazed with the materials from the ground.
12
Transparent base
Thicker grains
White base
13
Coal ash with white base, 1230°
14
15
PRINTING WITH WASTE
This visual exploration, part of my master thesis, is about printing with the materials found on Westduinpark and Zuiderstrand in The Hague. The pigments, the printing plates as well as the support (nettle paper) are extracted from that place. Therefore, the print is biodegradable, as well as the tools, and can go back to where it was harvested from.
16
BRICKS
17
STEEL SLAG
18
BRICK’S PIGMENTS
19
RECYCLED CERAMICS This project was selected by designer Hella Jongerius during her masterclass ‘What to design for a world of plenty?’, and exhibited at Voorlinden Museum in the Hague. When conducting research on second-hand shops in the Hague, I realized that ceramic dinnerware, even if they were still in good state, were not sold because of their outdated look. This project is about re-designing their surfaces so that they would be less likely to be thrown away. The original patterns are partly erased with sandblasting, or fixed in a distorted motion with the application of a runny new glaze.
A book was created to explain the different techniques to redesign the surface of old ceramics. Stencils can be used in order to make the process of redesign easier and accessible to anyone.
20
Sandblasted plates
21
TRANSFER PAPER
Plate with transfer paper Sandblasted pot
22
GLAZING
Runny glaze melts the previous pattern
23
KNIT THE KNIT Hemp was used in the field of textile before the rise of the use of cotton. It is one of the strongest natural fibers, in addition to being rot-proof. Because of its solidity, it was used to produce ropes, therefore it carries the image of an uncomfortable material, unsuitable for applications such as clothing or home textiles. This project aimed to show the potential of hemp during an exhibition at Milano design week, revealing its capacities to form a soft and comfortable textile. We chose to focus on knitting, since its structure brings elasticity and comfort. XXL looms are created. Combining this material and technique brings flexibility, lightness and solidity. ‘Knit the knit’ is a range of cushions displaying the potential of hemp and the various ways of working with it: naturally dyed, in combination with linen or with wool, knitted with different patterns. This project was made as part of Chair Idis, in partnership with La Chanvrière. It was made in collaboration with students Tianyi Zhou, Laura Huang, Justine le Bars, Gisèle Ntsama, and Anne Claire Noyer.
24
25
MADE IN HEMP I worked on creating a composite material of hemp and pine resin, in contact with the company Hollist that develops pin resin harvest in the south of France. Hemp has ecological and robustness properties and doesn’t need too much water or any pesticide to grow. Because of its high resistance, it is often used as a biocomposite material with epoxy resin, which doesn’t allow it to be recyclable. I first harvested pin resin, that can be recycled, and that is biodegradable. I then used colophany, a solid form of pin resin, obtained after the distillation. I tested different proportions, types of fibers and ways of molding. Hemp fibers used as reinforcement enhance the material’s structural integrity, allowing it to be robust, and the material is water resistant.
26
Harvested resin with hemp 60% resin 40% non spinned hemp fibers, long pieces (1 to 5 cm)
27
DIGITAL CRAFTSMANSHIP This work was produced during a workshop with designer and artist Frederic Pagace and was exhibited in the event Tranche de quai in Mulhouse. It explores the relation between industry and craftsmanship. The 3D printer’s movements are manually copied using a cotton thread, shaping objects whose forms are gradually defined. Some objects are 3D printed with a clay thread, and others are shaped with a cotton yarn. Both principles are explored as autonomous technics of form building. They inspire one another. The different ways that the threads gradually form a volume and deploy in space are studied and compared. Both processes have limitations and errors that are explored as aesthetic contributions, building forms between glitches and control.
28
29
TRANSPLANTING AESTHETICS This project is a morphology and form research. I designed a collection of objects based on George Nelson’s MAA chair. Can aesthetics be transplanted? The aesthetic qualities of the digital replica are applied to new objects with a different function. The goal was to find inspiration into a design icon to create new ranges of forms by using parts of this chair in different contexts. This process of reverse-engineering can be seen as a dialogue with the original designer.
30
I studied the relation between the shells and the structure. Details of the original chair are enlarged to become main components of the new objects.
31
PLAYING AGAINST PATRIARCHY This research focuses on toys and feminism, based on an analysis of philosopher Serge Chaumier. Accessories sold for girls are miniatures of real objects, and it doesn’t help the imagination to expand outside of the domestic circle. The scenario of play of a toy is mostly determined by the accessories it comes with. Toys that are advertised for boys have very different materialities and shapes than the ones sold for girls. I created new accessories that merge the gendered shapes and materialities together, blurring the existing barriers. These hybrids break the realism, and could be played both with Barbies and Transformers, allowing the different figurines to be played into new actions.
This part of the project focuses on toy soldiers, a well-known game that is clearly directed to a specific gender, a symbol of the stereotypes instilled to boys. Girls have dolls, boys have soldiers. I created toys that are faux soldiers, a parody. In their hands, they hold dolls’ accessories: objects related to the domestic area, often associated with futile or degrading actions, such as cleaning and cooking. This contrast reveals the absurdity of gender roles in toys. It aims to blur the barriers and open new possibilities for children.
33