Olivier Van Herpt Creates Painterly Vessels in Collaboration With a 3D Printer
The sketches on the surface are “co-drawn” with the machine.
Dutch designer Olivier Van Herpt has revealed the latest result of his 3D-printing experimentations – a set of vessels that are “drawn” in collaboration with the machine.
Having been experimenting with 3D printing and its possibilities since his graduation from the Design Academy Eindhoven, the designer – still based in the Dutch city – decided to begin looking into using porcelain. “Porcelain is generally kept small because it collapses in the firing process, but with this machine, I can make very thin, large pieces that do not collapse,” he says.
Once he harnessed the technique for creating the vessels, Van Herpt began to see the white material as a blank canvas.
Through experimentation, he began to work with the machine to create drawings on the material’s surface. “Like any human, I let the machine compose recognisable elements through lines of different intensity and color, communicating memories and emotions, reflecting the character of its creator.”
Courtesy Of Olivier Van Herpt
Courtesy Of Olivier Van Herpt
Courtesy Of Olivier Van Herpt
Courtesy Of Olivier Van Herpt
The process starts with a flat slab of porcelain clay, on to which colored porcelain is placed to create a composition. This is then rolled around a core of white porcelain and fed into the machine.
The machine then extrudes the material. It is stretched out long, and then rebuilt line by line. The result is an effect that looks both organic yet tech-y all at once. “Instead of silently obeying code, the approach is the opposite. Both human and machine take part in the creation and ideation of the final result, impacting how it looks.”
Take a closer look at the process in the gallery above, and head to the designer’s website to find out more.
