Casimir - Max le Belge Upcoming exhibition at Atelier Jespers during Brussels Design September - more infos on atelierjespers.com (updated) Casimir (pseudonym of Casimir Reynders, Koersel, Belgium, 1966) has been making furniture for a quarter of a century: his first piece dates from 1989. He studied industrial design, but soon found out that not designing but working with his hands had his preference. He calls himself a furniture maker, and sees a place for himself in the margins of the design business. During his training as an industrial designer, he discovered that the design of products for industry rarely reflects the personal view of the maker. Casimir on the other hand is a craftsman who likes to make things manually in his studio. The result is a very personal way of making things, which is reflected in the unique combination of solidity and polish of his furniture. Casimir does not make conventional furniture. His pieces are quirky in shape and design. One of his most characteristic pieces is 'Poetrel 1' (2008) – an industrial I-beam as used in construction. But with a twist: Casimir's 'Poetrel' is made of solid oak. This change of material – from steel to wood – completely changes the thing: it loses its function in construction and turns into a poetic object, which can be used as as a bench, a table, a TV bench,… The same goes for the pallets shown in the exhibition. Casimir adopts the form and dimensions of a standard europallet – as used to transport goods with a forklift – but replaces the substandard wood by first choice oak and the industrial construction by manual work. He employs wood as it is never done in cabinetmaking. Borrowing techniques from industry, Casimir experiments with supporting his furniture, not from the inside as is usual, but from the outside. The most spectacular example of this is the bridge construction which contains long slides. What is usually an inconspicuous piece of furniture is turned into a spectacular, monumental piece which dominates the space it is in. [Marc Holtof] #brusselsdesign#brusselsdesignseptember2016 #brusselsdesignseptember#designseptember#designseptemberbrussels16#atelierjespers