The false Flower

Between 27 June and 13 September 2015, the Dresden Museum of Decorative Arts is putting on the exhibition “The False Flower. A Design Fairy Tale by Hermann August Weizenegger”. This show by the well-known Berlin product designer is an act of homage to Saxony’s earlier artificial flower tradition. Ever since the nineteenth century, Sebnitz, situated on the border to Bohemia, was pre-eminent as the centre of European silk flower production. The Dresden Museum of Decorative Arts, ensconced in the impressive Baroque palace and park complex of Pillnitz on the Elbe, provides the perfect background for this sensuous show.

For the exhibition Hermann August Weizenegger (HAW) turned his attention to so-called “blümeln” – “flowering” – the craft of making artificial flowers. In collaboration with the Deutsche Kunstblume Sebnitz he has developed two contemporary flower variants. With the two flowers as leitmotif, he is creating a scenario in numerous scenes based on the saga of Lore, a flower maker, who is said to have lived near Sebnitz. As so often in Hermann August Weizenegger’s works, it remains ambiguous as to what is genuine in Lore’s story and what he has dreamed up. One thing is certain: Weizenegger is deeply impressed by the art of the Sebnitz craftswomen. “’Blümeln’ demands enormous skill, particularly cutting and dying the petals. It would be such a pity if this century-old craft and special feature of an entire region died out.”

But this involves more than just flowers and petals. The designer has invited porcelain and cloth manufacturers, also various craftspeople and artists to invest their talents in the “false flower”, including PTZ-Prototypenzentrum. The goal was to implement the newest technologies of 3D-printing within the project. Clearly visible parts ot the flower have been 3D-printed with Selektive Lasersintering (SLS-K). Therefore the boarderline of producibility was touched to create flowers as tender and fine as possible.

About PTZ

In the 1996 founded PTZ Prototypenzentrum GmbH 17 employees use the most modern technologies to produce models, tools and small series for German and European customers including the automotive industry, the medical and equipment technology. Brand manufacturers such as Siemens, Bosch, Miele, Fresenius and Ducati as well as many small and medium enterprises appreciate the variety of technologies at PTZ.