Casimir Works

Alexis Herbosch Elemental Liv

Design with a capital A

I learnt about Casimir in the 1980s. He was a product design student, and I was his philosophy lecturer. He struck me as an intriguing personality. He was not concerned with the formal rules of our institution and didn’t take them too seriously. His wilful attitude may have given the impression of nonchalance or a lack of seriousness. However, he always worked with great passion. An (apparent) lack of seriousness and fanatic seriousness or nonchalance on the one hand and perfectionism on the other –how do you tie that together? This hybrid combination seemed to offer opportunities in my opinion.

When things don’t fit together, it is often the result of our own prejudice. Contradictory combinations can be the source of a different and unexpected vision of the world. Casimir’s idiosyncratic contribution to the world of design can be understood in the light of this ‘non-fitting’. All his objects express a combination of non-seriousness and seriousness. Let me try to explain. I would like to add right away that I consider non-seriousness to be a very serious matter.

– Francis Smets

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Binding Paperback