As 3D printing gains a foothold in manufacturing industries, it is sometimes easy to overlook its creative potentials. Fortunately, there are a number of innovative artists who are working with 3D design and printing as a medium who help to remind us of the amazing potentials of the technology within the artistic field. Check out some recent 3D printed art projects that have inspired us:
1. 3D printed wine tilt holder
Wine connoisseurs will know how important it is to not only drink good wine, but drink wines when they are at their best, served in optimal conditions. To help improve not only the quality of wine, but also its style, 3D printed homeware brand OTHR has unveiled the 3D printed Canon wine tilt.
The drinking accessory, which does resemble a canon, was designed to hold bottles of wine at a 45 degree angle, which is apparently the best angle to let wine aerate at. 3D printed from porcelain, the Canon wine tilt was conceived of by by American designer Brad Ascalon.
In addition to holding wine bottles at a specific angle, the 3D printed piece also features a cylindrical handle that can hold a corkscrew, and can even hide the bottle’s foil, once the bottle has been opened. OTHR describes their newest product saying: “Reductive in its form, Canon was created for design-savvy oenophiles, or simply for hosts who want to impress their guests.”
OTHR, which has been in operation since May 2016, teams up with various designers from around the world to create innovative homeware products. You can see more of their 3D printed products here.
2. 3D printed topographical maps
For geography lovers, 3D printing has offered a new and innovative way to accurately recreate models based off of topographical mapping data. The trend of 3D printing maps has not only been for educational or research purposes, however, as it has also been used within the design sphere.
New York-based design agency Hush, for instance, has introduced TopoTopo, a free online platform that allows people to generate small 3D printable topographical maps of anywhere on the planet. Using mapping data from Google and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, TopoTopo allows users to simply type in a location and choose the dimensions of the map. The customizable 3D printable maps, which can be downloaded and printed by the user or sent to a 3D printing service, could be a personal and touching gift for a loved one over the holidays.
As David Shwarz, Hush founding partner and Creative Leader, explains: “Places have meaning. Geography and topography are often the backgrounds to our experiences. They are the setting in our own life stories. The physicality of a place represents the scene and all of our experience play out against that scenography.”
3. 3D printed glitch sneaker
It looks like some of Kanye West’s nightmares about 3D printing are coming true, though perhaps not in the way he’d expect. Artist Shane Griffin has created a glitchy 3D printed sculpture that is based on West’s famous Yeezy Boost sneakers for Adidas. The 3D printed sneaker, which is life-sized, look like its been taken directly out a Sims glitch, as the upright shoe is broken into 3 parts, each one distorted and twisted in digital way.
The sculpture is actually based off of a 3D scan of a Yeezy Boost 350, which Griffin captured using photogrammetry. With the digital model, he proceeded to distort and alter the shoe, all while keeping in mind weight and balance proportions so the sculpture could eventually be stood upright. The 3D model as then printed out of a resin based material. Even from up-close, the 1:1 3D printed glitch sneaker can play tricks on the mind, as it truly does look like a digital manipulation.
4. Ukraine’s 3D printed “Walking Flower” sculpture
Ukraine recently unveiled its largest 3D printed sculpture to date. Created by local media artist Stepan Ryabchenko, the 3D printed sculpture is fittingly called “Walking Flower” (as it does resemble a large flower taking a step).
The large yellow sculpture, which is currently on display at the Ukraine Art Gallery, is part of Ryabchenko’s larger virtual art series, called “Doom’s Day”. The latter is divided into many collections, and the 3D printed flower falls into the artist’s “Virtual Mythology” collection, which expresses utopian ideals and explores the intersections and divisions between the virtual and material worlds. The bright yellow and reflective piece certainly does convey a sense of optimism and hope.
In terms of its production, Ryabchenko teamed up with a team of engineers from Diacom Group, who over the course of two months were able to 3D print the large flower.
5. 3D scanned clone army animation
Jon Robson, a filmmaker who specializes in motion animation, has created what could be my new favorite short film project. Only 40-seconds long, his project “Crowd Sim 2” shows hundreds of 3D scanned clones all running at each other and crashing into each other to form a morbid pile of glitchy bodies.
The piece was made using crowd simulations (which have been used in other larger scale film projects such as The Lord of the Rings, for instance), but uses the technology to a more playful effect. Funnily, Robson’s clone character is actually based off of a detailed 3D scan of his friend. As he says: “My friend let me photoscan him. In return I made him immortal.”
Appropriately paired with Bryan Adam’s song “Run to You”, the short film experiment is certainly worth checking out. Again and again.
