Opening up a new mode of thinking. Review of the Titanium Workshop with Fabrice Schaefer and Yanli Duan

The Purpose and Significance of the Workshop
This course is listed as the metal craft course system research in the 135 Curriculum Teaching Reform Project in 2019. It is one of the core courses of the jewelry department in the College of Crafts, China Academy of Art and an international key course of the college. The course is called Metal Craft Ⅱ, which belongs to the second stage of the undergraduate teaching system, the metal language module in media materials and language. It focuses on the coloring methods and characteristics of metal materials. The course was taught by Yanli Duan, a jewelry teacher from the China Academy of Art, together with internationally renowned expert and scholar. This time, Fabrice Schaefer was invited, a professor from the Geneva University of Art and Design, Switzerland.

This course breaks through the conventional metal materials in the current teaching of jewelry and metal art majors, such as silver and copper, which greatly enrich the materials and language expressions of jewelry creation. At the same time, more importantly, titanium is formed by means of hot-working, bending and other techniques, which opens up a new mode of thinking for students. It should be emphasized that this technology plays a demonstration role in the domestic jewelry and metal art profession.


Biography of the Artist
Fabrice Schaefer, born on February 14, 1969 in Geneva, Switzerland. He is a professor at the Geneva University of Art and Design and a member of the Geneva Art Association. Professor Fabrice has been engaged in titanium research for many years. He has a unique insight into the special metal materials and processes and can be described as a landmark person in this field.

 

Works of Fabrice Schaefer
The hard titanium seems to be extremely soft under Professor Fabrice's hands, and the work is simple but powerful. His works pay attention to the relationship between modeling structure and surface color, pure and natural.
See Fabrice's work images below after the text.


Course Content

1. Early Guidance
Professor Fabrice first explained the physical properties of titanium and other related theoretical knowledge, compared the characteristics of titanium with conventional metals, and focused on the visual characteristics of this material. These were explained to students with examples of diversified expressions, opening up students' horizons.

 

2. Material Demonstration
This course starts with One Line, paying attention to the spatial modeling language of lines, and gradually studying the coloring effect and surface texture of titanium.
The forming process of titanium is centered on heating, folding and engraving. From design, cutting to forging, the professor demonstrated the whole process. He showed us the different color changes of titanium under different temperature and time control. By using different shapes of diamond polishing rods and wheels, the texture of titanium can be changed.