Ways of Altering

Design is not only about the end product, production methods are just as important. New ways of making things can open up unexplored terrain, which Thomas Ballouhey wanted to show with his graduation project Ways of Altering. The low-tech look referred to a distant past rather than a technologically advanced present or future. Like a thieving magpie, he intruded on the territory of others, hijacking existing objects and industrial leftovers, which were composed into material collages and then sprayed over by a mix of glue and sand. The solidifyed coating contains various references to the parts that were once considered merely building blocks.

Combining both conventional and unconventional materials, such as plywood, epoxy clay, mirrors, paints, chewing-gum, and a variety of production techniques, to create surprising objects and installations have remained characteristic for the works he realized after leaving DAE.