PutWhatWhere is the culmination of two years of exploration in material, form, and function by RMIT furniture design graduates. In essence, it marks their debut into the furniture design profession. Following an opening event on November 17, visitors are invited to view the exhibition at Melbourne’s iconic arts hub, Meat Market, 2 Wreckyn Street, North Melbourne.
Lachlan Cashman is one of the eleven 2022 graduates and we asked him to fill in some of the background.
In a mass-produced and throwaway world, how should graduates and emerging furniture designers and makers position themselves on the market?
This is a great question and one that is particularly relevant to the design and fabrication dialogue that evolved during our studies. It seems like the first cycle of lockdown induced fast furniture is reaching its manufactured expiry date right now, not only because the lifespan of the objects is concluding but because the necessity of the objects dissipates as our relationships with our spaces return to a pre-covid state. We dive pretty deep into the ethical ramifications of making during the course and our bodies of work are inevitably those of people who are trying to justify our existence as makers and what it is about our work that means we’re not contributing to the excess.
Can you tell us a bit about the RMIT furniture design course? How long does it go for and what does it cover? What percentage of the course is hands-on?
The Associate Degree in Design (Furniture) covers a combination of making skills, machining technologies, product development, and sustainable approaches to design over a two-year duration. It’s a pretty full-on curriculum for an Associate Degree, first year is about 30% workshop time and then a mix of design principles, history, and a comms component that covers CAD, some of the Adobe suite, sketching and ideation. Second year we spend about half our time in the workshop and other time is spent going deeper with CAD/CAM, producing industry standard technical specifications and formulating a document called the Career Action Plan. It’s quite a broad spectrum of content and we’re kept very busy, but we’re coming out of it feeling well equipped to forge our paths.
What is the “PutWhatWhere” concept all about? Have the students played a role in developing this concept and promoting the exhibition?
With the exception of venue selection, our cohort has had full control of and responsibility for the exhibition. Execution of the event is an assessable component of our final semester and we’ve been guided by our wonderful teacher Mette Stryhn. Given the diversity of work we’ve produced, we sought an exhibition title that invites guests to absorb pieces individually and to imagine the spaces or places they see the objects belonging.
PutWhatWhere is the culmination of two years of exploration in material, form, and function. This exhibition marks the RMIT graduates' debut into the furniture design profession. A sense of individuality is expressed through each object, evoking a unique and immersive narrative that elicits new feelings and questions.
How many students of the course are graduating in 2022?
This year we have a small group of 11 graduates: Sam Blomley, Cal Dolby, Daniella El-Fakhri, Perry Knight, Joanne Odisho, Riley Sadler, Lauren Trantino, Joseph Turnbull, Austin Vass, Jin Zhang and myself, Lachlan Cashman.
How many pieces will be displayed – what kinds of work can people expect to see?
We have roughly 40 objects, ranging from sconces to stools to storage. Some of the pieces respond to the same specific briefs, responses to the concept of working remotely, lighting that explores high tech manufacturing, and found objects given ulterior function. Others are presented as our signature pieces, where we were given free reign to design and fabricate. To name a few; we have floor lamps fabricated from reclaimed egg shells, a configurable furniture system enabled by aluminium castings, a contemporary take on parquetry shelving and an articulating kitchen stool that doubles as a step ladder.
PutWhatWhere: 2022 Furniture Graduate Show
Date: November 18–21
Venue: Meat Market, 2 Wreckyn St, North Melbourne
Instagram: @rmit_design_studio
Click on gallery images for a larger view and to read captions.