By working with craftspeople, programmers and architects and foregrounding what is usually considered as context, such as technical know-how, disciplinary traditions and social cultures, Amandine David opens up possibilities for multidisciplinary dialogues. Because of its collaborative origins and open-ended nature, her work is always self-consciously connected to the social structures of sharing which surround every design practice. Her interest for craftsmanship and crosscultural collaboration led her to take part in the creation of Hors Pistes, a nomadic residency program initiating encounters between craftspeople and designers. Here, the idea of common languages based on the shared physical connection to tools, materials, objects added to her understanding of craft techniques from different social, political and geographical contexts.
Amandine David became interested in the relation between traditional crafts and digital manufacturing, eventually leaving behind their opposition with her projects Crossing Parallels and Weaving Code. In the former, Amandine worked with Esmé Hofman and Joris van Tubergen to create tools, objects and hybrid fabrication methods mixing traditional basket weaving and 3D-printing. With Weaving Code, she traces the binary language of machines back to 19th century weaving and explores the ways in which these technologies still speak to each other today. Previous and ongoing collaborations include TAAT, Z33, Crafts Council Nederland, Trame Paris, Ohme and Dutch Invertuals. Amandine is currently teaching at KASK, The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Gent, in the Autonomous Design department.
