3D printing on an inflatable substrate

Posted on by aneczka2307

http://3dprint.com/73830/3d-printing-on-inflatable/

Fergal Coulter

3D Printing on an Inflatable Substrate

Fergal Coulter is a lecturer and PhD candidate at the College of Art & Design and Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University. He has experience in the additive manufacture of tubular, dielectric, elastomer Minimum Energy Structures, cardiac assist devices, auxetic structures, soft robotics and printed electronics.

His latest project, 3D scanning and printing on inflated structures, uses multiple layers of hard silicone – Shore A 73 hardness to be precise – to create seamless, hexachiral structures on an inflated silicone balloon.

scan2print-600x511

The soft silicone is sprayed onto an air-permeable mandrel which is then inflated and 3D scanned. Those scans are used to calculate geometries for 3D printed forms which are then extruded on to the inflated mandrel using a much harder silicone. The specific geometries being printed are auxetic, ‘hexachiral honeycomb’ structures.

Such auxetic structures have the potential to be used in a wide range of applications from deployable and morphing structures to various medical treatments, soft robotics and artificial muscles.

In this particular case the structures are used to constrain some of the pre-stretch that is imparted in the balloon during inflation. The entire printed structure is to be used in artificial muscles (or more specifically ‘Dielectric Elastomer Actuators’) for in-vivo prosthetics. Rather than using a conventional external actuator of some sort, dielectric elastomers can be made to change form and size through the application of a voltage across a thin rubber membrane. Their efficiency is greatly increased if they are held in a stretched form.

The “auxetic hexachiral structures” can be tailored and tuned for a stiffness response, by varying material hardness, thickness or the tangent angle of the straight line ‘ligaments’.

When the extruded layers of silicone are cured, the balloon mandrel is deflated finally settling into what is termed a Minimum Energy Structure (MES).

Coulter is also working on what are called “smart aortic grafts,” which researchers hope can one day be implanted into a removed section of the ascending aorta to improve the heart’s efficiency. Using “smart materials” that expand when a voltage is applied to them, these origami-esque auxetic techniques can be made to collapse and expand.

IMG_38903

The idea is that the grafts will create a counter blood-flow by aping the ‘beating’ response of the heart out of phase with the diseased heart. As the heart fills with blood, the woven tube contracts to increase pressure in the heart. When the heart pumps oxygenated blood around the body, the tube is essentially stimulated to expand and release the pressure, thereby increasing blood flow.

Coulter and his fellow researchers use 3D printing techniques which can be tailored to a patient using MRI scan data.

Working with team leader “Dr Anton Ianakiev, Coulter says the findings are groundbreaking stuff which has the potential to be more effective than current therapies.

Can you think of any applications for this 3D printing on an inflatable substrate technique? Let us know in the Inflatable 3D Printing Substrate forum thread on 3DPB.com.

2014-10-13-17.57

3

3dprint.com

by  | JUNE 17, 2015

Bacon Möbius strip !

Posted on by aneczka2307

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2906116/tech-primers/bacony-goodness-math-3d-printing-an-inedible-endless-bacon-mbius-strip.html

bacon mobius

Bacony goodness + math + 3D printing = an inedible endless Bacon Möbius strip

It’s not for human consumption but is it art?

If you take a strip of bacon and twist one end through 180 degrees then join the two ends you get a piece of bacon with only one side, a Bacon Möbius strip. Cool. But if you want such a thing to adorn your desk (and who wouldn’t?) then being made of real bacon would be, to say the least, a bad idea. So,  to memorialize this mathematical and culinary wonder, why not print a look-alike on a 3D printer? Why not indeed?

This exactly is what a designer with the handle “joabaldwin” created using the Shapeways 3D printing service.

Need one for your desk? It’s 3.346″ w x 3.024″ d x 1.399″ h (the precision is awesome) and it’s just $19 …

networkworld.com

by  | Apr 5, 2015 2:34 PM PT

3D printed optical illusion

Posted on by aneczka2307

http://3dprint.com/53071/3d-printed-optical-illusion/

illusionani

German Designer 3D Prints an Amazing Optical Illusion That Will Drive You Insane!

The idea that 3D printing can open up avenues that previously have not been available via other art forms, is something that makes this technology so incredibly appealing for artists and visionaries throughout the world.

For one German man, named David Hagemann, 3D printing has really allowed him to unleash many really unique creations on a global level. Just last week, we reported on a 3D printed palm tree fruit holder that he created, and last month we did a story on his 3D printed ‘Linklings‘. Hagemann is constantly trying to come up with new ideas that separate his creations from the mundane.

One of his latest design ideas came about after he saw how a simple black and blue dress became an overnight internet sensation, simply because no one could agree on what color it was.  Surely you have seen this overly publicized dress.

“I just thought about what kind of illusion could be easy to 3D print and I then came up with an inverted face idea which is also known as the hollow mask effect,” Hagemann tells 3DPrint.com. “I did something with inverted eyes before which happened more by accident since a lot of my early prints were shells and I made the eyes separate.”

illusion3

So Hagemann set out to create an entire face that can be viewed from both sides, yet provide the appearance that the facial features are protruding outward toward the viewer. While one side of the print is inverted, both sides appear to be sticking out. The task of creating this design and then 3D printing it, certainly wasn’t easy.

When Hagemann printed his first version, he noticed that ‘shadow casting’ was a huge problem. The steep hole, which acts as the inverted nose on the face, was casting a large shadow which in turn made the entire illusion fail.

“I ended up smoothing steep facial features, which was mainly the nose, and squashing the whole face to be more flat,” Hagemann tells us. “This way it hardly [has any] overlapping when viewing it and it only very little shadow casting inside. I printed a very thin version in natural ABS which came out surprisingly well.”

Hagemann also discovered that his illusion worked really well when light shines through it from the back side. While the illusion is mostly one that stems from psychological conditioning, the design itself also plays a huge role in making it happen.

“The effect does not really require a light shining on it from the bottom, since most people have the viewing of positive faces engraved so much into their brain that they will see a negative face always as a positive face,” Hagemann explains to us.

illusionfeatured

The majority of people will see a ‘positive’ face when viewing Hagemann’s 3D printed creation, although not everyone will. In particular Schizophrenia sufferers will not be fooled by this illusion.  Others also have the ability to depict the fact that they are viewing an inverted object, but very few do. This is because of the way our brains are built.

“Our top-down processing holds memories, like stock models,” explained Danai Dima of Hannover Medical University, in Germany, co-author of a study in NeuroImage. “All the models in our head have a face coming out, so whenever we see a face, of course if has to come out.”

So, what do you see? Do you see a positive or negative face? Discuss in the 3D printed optical illusion forum thread on 3DPB.com.

3dprint.com

by  | MARCH 23, 2015

3D printed tekken model of ‘Yoshimitsu’

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

A Breathtaking Recreation of Tekken Fan Favourite Yoshimitsu

http://goo.gl/2C1Ytg

bruijn

Dutch Artist Designs and 3D Prints Incredible Tekken Model of ‘Yoshimitsu’

As a child, I was quite the collector of action figures and models. Whether it was my vast collection of G.I. Joes, my complete set of every Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle available, my Starting Lineup models, or my sparse collection of random figurines from Ghost Busters, American Gladiators, and He-Man, I never had a problem finding something to do. Now with the advent of 3D printing, action figure hobbyists and model collectors have yet another avenue to trek when it comes to acquiring their favorite characters from movies, TV shows, and/or video games.

It seems like it was only a little over a year ago that we began seeing designers start 3D printing their own custom figurines. The ability to design characters from the ground up, and then bring them to life through 3D printing, means the possibilities are really endless.

Thijs de Bruijn

For one Dutch designer, named Thijs de Bruijn, 3D printing was just the avenue he needed to create a model figurine with the detail and customization that he wanted, although he never really set out to have his model 3D printed.

“Initially I wasn’t even planning on ever having it 3D printed. I entered a 3D modelling contest of which the goal was to make fan art of a character from any fighting game,” Bruijn tells 3DPrint.com. “In my opinion it would be kind of pointless to just blatantly recreate an already existing design, therefore I decided to make my own design from the ground up. The character I picked was ‘Yoshimitsu’ from the game Tekken. I thought he was really interesting in his previous designs and he also has a somewhat interesting backstory.”

Bruijn started his design by sketching the really basic proportions in Photoshopwithout any line-work. He then browsed the internet looking for pictures that had interesting shapes. These shapes can literally be anything imaginable. He took these pictures and overlaid them on his Photoshop sketch to find interesting lines which he could then trace.

bruijn3

“This is a great way to come up with design elements that you could never think of yourself,” Bruijn tells us. “The next step is to take the design and quickly sculpt that in Zbrush.”

Bruijn uses Zbrush but says that any sculpting software could work. He then took a snapshot of the 3D model back to Photoshop and repeated his original step until he was happy with his overal design. Because most 3D printers are not large enough for the printing of full sized models, Bruijn had to cut his model apart. When it came to 3D printing his model, a Hong Kong-based company called Ownage was just the right fit.

bruijn6

The Yoshimitsu model was 3D printed with parts printed on several different machines. Most of the parts are made hollow and then filled with a heat resistant plaster to give the model a more solid feel and provide it with a bit of weight. When complete, the Yoshimitsu model measured 9.84 inches tall (25 cm).

It took Bruijn a little less than two months to complete this project from start to finish, with the painting process taking two whole weeks. In the end, it was well worth the time he spent, as the model turned out amazing.

I’m a 27 year old artist with a background in game-art, I have several years of experience in the field and went on to do freelance work since about a year ago. I also have degree in Game-Art (graduated at MediaCollege in Amsterdam). I’m located in Monnickendam, the Netherlands, which about 15 minutes away from Amsterdam!

Bruijn is a 27 year-old artist with a background in game art, as well as a degree in the subject from MediaCollege in Amsterdam. He has several years of experience in the field, and currently lives in Minnickendam, the Netherlands. More details on Bruijn’s other design work can be found on his website.

What do you think about this incredible Yoshimitsu model? Was it worth the two month time frame it took Bruijn to create? Discuss in the 3D Printed Tekken model forum thread on 3DPB.com.  Check out some more photos of Bruijn’s model below.

bruijn4

bruijn7

bruijn8

bruijn5

3DPRINT.COM
by  | JANUARY 22, 2015

3D printed sculptures

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

A Truly Mesmerizing Video Featuring 3D Printed Sculptures Created Using the Golden Ratio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDwal4PhZv4

3D-Printed Fibonacci Zoetrope Sculpturess
Want to see more like this? Follow us on http://www.facebook.com/artFido These 3d-printed zoetrope sculptures were designed by John Edmark.
YOUTUBE.COM

3D printing and beer pong as a history lesson?

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

What Do You Get When You Mix 3D Printing and Beer Pong? A History Lesson!

http://3dprint.com/37885/3d-printing-ancient-beer-pong/

Professor Heather Sharpe with the 3D printed version of a Solo Cup. Photo by Megan Gannon/Live Science

Art Professor Uses Ancient Beer Pong and 3D Printing to Teach Greek History
There are some college courses which just make sense to sign up for to fill in the gaps and raise the GPA to an acceptable level. Bowling. A Survey of the History of Television Cartoons. The Joy of Garbage. But until now, students interested in the intellectual underpinnings of Beer Pong had to do their investigations off school hours. Now a professor has remedied that oversight by teaching her students an ancient Greek drinking game, with 3D printing in place of the illustrations she once used.
Heather Sharpe, an associate professor of art history at West Chester Universityof Pennsylvania, uses a 3D printed drinking cup to teach her students about a Beer Pong-like game the ancients played called kottabos.
“I thought it would be really great if we could actually try to do it ourselves,” Sharpe says.
kottabos

The Greeks used the game, much as college students do today, to spice up their drinking binges. At what were referred to as symposia, men got hammered on wine and competed by tossing the the dregs of their beverages at a target to win prizes.

Sharpe says historical texts and artworks show that the two ways to playkottabos — one an attempt to knock down a disc balanced on a metal stand, and one aimed at hitting small dishes floating in a large bowl of water — used leftover wine. Paintings on kylixes, the boozing cups of the day, included scenes of partygoers playing kottabos.

So Sharpe called on Andrew Snyder, a professor of ceramics at West Chester University, to lend her a hand in making the game pieces playable. Snyder built three replica kylixes out of clay, but he ultimately used a MakerBot Replicator 2to print lighter, more durable versions of the cups.

And it seems the game was every bit as tough as the modern equivalent.

“It took a fair amount of control to actually direct the wine dregs, and interestingly enough, some of the women were the first to get it,” Sharpe told Megan Gannon of Live Science. “In some respects, they relied a little bit more on finesse, whereas some of the guys were trying to throw it too hard.”

An original Kylix

While Sharpe and her students used diluted grape juice, the professor says she’d ultimately like to play kottabos with real adult beverages, you know, to understand how the increasing levels of drunkenness would have affected the outcome of the game.

Science.

“It would be fun to actually experiment with wine drinking,” Sharpe says. “Of course, this was a university event, so we couldn’t exactly do it on campus. But really, to get the full experiment, it would be interesting to try it after having a kylix of wine — or after having two kylixes of wine.”

Do you know about any other instances where professors have used 3D printing to help their students understand history in a more ‘hands on’ way? If you do or you just want to comment, lets us know your thoughts on the Professor UsesAncient Beer Pong and 3D Printing forum thread on 3DPB.com.

3DPRINT.COM

by  | JANUARY 18, 2015

3D printed artworks

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

From Lamps shaped like Mushroom Clouds to a rendition of Michelangelo’s ‘David’ with Flowers, Feast Your Eyes on this list of the Top Ten 3D Printed Art!

http://3dprint.com/34900/10-cool-3d-printed-artworks/

reef

10 of the Coolest Works of 3D Printed Art We’ve Ever Seen

Mushroom chairs, nuclear cloud lamps, eerie ghost-like trapped creatures, beautiful shell-cone objects, and stag’s and futuristic human heads, are all featured as some of the coolest pieces of 3D printed art we’ve seen yet.

3D printed art has unique details, with 3D printing allowing for the kind of subtlety and nuance of detail that requires much less handicraft time than conventional sculpture. This list represents a range of styles, textures, and functions; some beautiful and organic, other witty or humorous, and yet others introspective, eerie, and even unnerving.  Enjoy!

1.  Shane Hope: “Public Panopticon Powder”

In Shane Hope’s piece, he combines nano-structural, or small scale structural, reliefs that are first 3D printed and then painted to “reconcile the parts seamlessly.” From a great distance the work, “Public Panopticon Powder,” looks almost like an Impressionist painting, but up close it resembles barnacle pieces of coral reef.  The work is part of his series “Species-Tool-Being”; the rest of the series can be found here.

2. Eric Klarenbeek, “Mycelium Chair”

chair

Not only is Eric Klarenbeek’s “Mycelium Chair” also inspired by organic elements — it features mushrooms. In this piece that looks like something you may find in the same magical other world where Nuala O’Donovan’s (see above, “Teasel Grey Fault Line”) work resides. Maybe not so comfortable to sit in, Klarenbeek‘s chair shows how 3D printing can use natural elements to enhance the message of  a work.

3. Valeriya Promokhova, “7 Davids Project: in Flowers”

michel

While there’s some incredibly unique 3D printed art, there’s also some more knock off work that this next series seems to epitomize. Recognize this sculpture? It’s Michelangelo’s “David” reworked in a 3D Printed Cat sponsored series entitled “7 Davids,” by designer Valeriya Promokhova. This piece is done “in Flowers,” and the series also includes printings in spirals, splines, curves, and other designs.

3D printing is allowing people to create images and objects that may have been previously difficult to capture. In this case, this Beijing artist creates haunting and sometimes terrifying works by layering glass panes to create a three dimensional effect. Some of his work looks like people are drowning or trying to escape another dimension — as this one does. Others can be described as ghost-apocalyptic, as the subjects represented appear to have endured harrowing events. This is certainly some of the more thoughtful 3D printed work out there.

4. Veneridesign Studio, “Nuke Lamp”

nuke

If the previous piece seems eerily post-apocalyptic, this one is definitely mid-apocalyptic. Nothing says “end of the world” better than this 3D printed nuclear lamp cloud designed by Veneridesign Studio. Over the years, we have seen so many different versions of the mushroom cloud: why not make it functional by using it as a lamp?

5. Eric van Straaten, “Groomer”

head2

For some reason, heads and busts are big in 3D printed art, and the first one we feature here in our series of 3D printed head art is really surreal and kind of unnerving. The next artist, Eric van Straaten, describes his work as  embodying “weirdly eroticized corporeality”: and weird is right. Young nudish swimmers laying on top of an older man’s head, forming a makeshift swim cap, can only be interpreted as a clash between youth and age, revealed in the focus on the physical aging of the man’s body. What’s important to note is how the materials used mimic real skin. This 3D printed sculpture is definitely over most of our heads!

6. Monika Horčicová, “The Wheel of Life”

wheel

This last piece is a wheel made up of skeleton legs that has a very pretty appearance from afar, but on closer inspection it presents a macabre, yet still thoughtful, feel. Done as 3D print artist Monika Horčicová’s Bachelor’s Thesis, “The Wheel of Life” reminds us that the future of 3D art is in good hands, and life is too short not to enjoy some of it today.

What do you think about these pieces? Let us know your favorite — of these, or all time! — piece of 3D printed artwork over in the 3D Printed Art forum thread at 3DPB.com.

art

3DPRINT.COM
by  | JANUARY 12, 2015

3D printed vagina selfie

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

The Case of the ‘3D Printed Vagina Selfie’ Continues..

http://goo.gl/yLnt6N

Japanese ‘3D printed vagina’ artist is charged with ‘distributing obscene data’
Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi (42) who makes objects shaped like her own vagina has been charged with distributing ‘obscene’ data.
Igarashi was first arrested in July for selling 3D printable data of her own genitals. Igarashi was accused of distribution of obscene material electronically – the design files are said to have been distributed in March to a 30-year-old man in Kagawa Prefecture who could produce a model of her genitals.

She was freed after several days following a legal appeal and after more than 21,000 people signed apetition demanding her release.

But she was arrested again this month, as she had reportedly offered to send the data of a kayak that’s based on her vagina to the biggest donors to a crowdfunding campaign that supported her project.

The present charges relate to three counts of distributing ‘obscene’ data:

  1. She had uploaded the 3D scan of female genitals online and transmitted the URL of the website by e-mail;
  2. She had sent CD-ROMs containing same data for a 3D printer.
  3. She had exhibited a model in the shape of female genitalia.

“We don’t agree with the prosecutors’ contention at all.” Takeshi Sumi, one of Igarashi’s lawyers, told AFP Wednesday.

“We will continue pleading not guilty on behalf of Igarashi, who argues her works are not anything obscene,” Sumi said.

The Japanese court approved her detention, as prosecutors said they feared she would destroy evidence if released, according to Sumi.

“Japan’s multi-billion-dollar pornography industry is large and varied, but obscenity laws still ban pictures of actual genitalia, which normally appear pixellated or behind black spots,” notes AFP. “If convicted of distributing or possessing obscene materials for the purpose of selling, Igarashi could face up to two years in jail and/or a fine of as much as 2.5 million yen ($21,000).”

References:

3DERS.ORG
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20141225-japanese-3d-printed-vagina-artist-is-charged-with-distributing-obscene-data.html

30 printers to making a boat!

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

A Project of Epic Proportions: A Taiwanese Artist is Using 30 Printers to Print a 26-Foot Long Boat Consisting of 100,000 Parts

http://goo.gl/cHA549

The 2 meter long version of Peng's boat

Artist is 3D Printing a 26 Foot Long Boat in 100,000 Separate Pieces on 30 3D Printers
Over the past year, we have seen many incredible 3D printing projects take place. There have been houses, cars, boats, and prosthetic hands that have all been created on 3D printers. However, one artist, named Hung-Chih Peng, may have them all beat, at least when it comes to creativity and time involved.
The 2 meter version
Hung-Chih Peng is a Taiwanese artist who thinks outside of the box, and I’m not just talking about throwing in a few extra colors on a painting, or sculpting a slightly controversial scene. He has garnered a tremendous amount of attention with his unique exhibits such as Post-Inner Scripture in 2013, God Pound and 200 Years in 2009, and Little Danny in 2002, among others. Now Peng’s latest work is The Deluge – Noah’s Ark, which is currently an exhibition that can be seen at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. It takes a model of a boat, and twists and turns its body in a way that isn’t physically possible in the real world.
But this is art, and The Deluge is Peng’s way of showing the inability that humans have exhibited in rectifying uncontrollable catastrophic challenges. Climate change, ecological crises, and environmental pollution are all changes that this planet is facing, yet seemingly humans do not have a way to correct these problems. The work is meant as a metaphor for showing the battle being waged by Mother Nature on the accelerated development of industrialized civilization. And as Peng explains:
“Human beings are unable to return to the unspoiled living environment of the past, and have become victims of their own endeavors. In the biblical time, Noah’s Ark is the last resort for humans to escape from the termination of the world. However, if Noah’s Ark sinks, where is the hope of the human race? If Noah’s Ark, a symbol of mankind salvation, becomes just as a shipwreck, human and nonhuman were placed in an equal position. Human subject is losing his predominance as the supreme center of the world.”
deluge10
Currently on display is this piece which Peng has created. It is 3D printed and measures 2 meters long. It depicts a time when the Anthropocene period (a period when human activities have/had significant global impact on Earth’s ecosystems), is replaced by the Mechanocene period when machinery begins taking over some of the jobs.
“It is certain that, no matter what circumstance will turn out, there will certainly be a disaster beforehand,” explains Peng. “Destruction and construction always grow and demise together. We will once again encounter the problem of moral degeneration.”
As part of the exhibition that features Peng’s 2 meter long “Noah’s Ark,” which has been twisted and turned in all directions, he has also turned his exhibition space into what he terms “an artist’s studio,” and is currently 3D printing a HUGE 26-foot-long model of the same boat, using 30 UP 2 FDM-based 3D printers. In all, there will be about 100,000 separate 3D printed pieces that will go into assembling this giant boat.
The 8 meter (26 foot) 3D printed boat - printed in 100,000 pieces.
“The boat is not finished yet, it will be finished at the beginning of Jan 2015,” Peng tells 3DPrint.com. “It will be 8 meters long and about 165 cm high and wide. We will use 560 kg of filaments, sponsored by UP printer maker, Beijing Tiertime. This is my first time using 3D printers. The original idea was only to build a huge twisted boat for this biennial. It has to be huge. After evaluating all the possibilities of different working processes, we think 3D printing is the best final decision.”
Visitors to the exhibit can see first hand as 30 3D printers are constantly working, printing different parts of the boat. When finished, they are assembled onto the larger model, which also is currently on display.
What do you think about this incredible art exhibit? Discuss in the 3D Printed 26 Foot Boat forum thread on 3DPB.com.
deluge8
deluge7
deluge6
deluge5
deluge1
deluge2
3DPRINT.COM
by  | DECEMBER 19, 2014

3D printed 26 foot boat

Posted on by Malta 3D Printing

Weird or What? An Eccentric British Artist Intends to 3D Print his own Head using Dust From His Dead Father’s Crushed Skull.

http://3dprint.com/…/artist-plans-to-crush-his-fathers-sku…/

Lee Wagstaff 3d printed skull

Artist Plans To Crush His Father’s Skull, And 3D Print Replica of His Own Skull With the Dust
British artist Lee Wagstaff had a “difficult” time relating to his father. His distant relationship with his dad has led him to the point where he plans to crush his father’s skull into a fine powder – and use it to replicate a model of his own skull with a 3D printer.

Wagstaff, born in London in the late 1960’s, is an artist who, along with spending five years acquiring a full-body suit of tattoos which he says are based on “cross-cultural geometrical symbols” like circles, squares, swastikas and stars, plans to use what remains of his father to make a replica of his own skull from the ground up bits of his father’s brainpan.

After completing his studies at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, the Royal College of Art in London and Kyoto City University of Arts in Kyoto, Japan, Wagstaff has exhibited his body and large format, photo self-portraits at fine art and performance spaces around the world.

He calls his works “portraits that pursue an alliance between faith, space, geometry and anatomy.”  His current focus is on digital 3D data acquisition and reconstruction processes, and he says those technologies play a central role in his thinking.

wagstaff skull image

Wagstaff says bodily materials are, for him, simply art materials like ink, paint, or plaster. He adds that in tribal art, materials like blood and bone are often used to create art.

“It’s only in a more sanitised, contemporary world that people tend to get sensational about anything a little bit icky,” Wagstafftold The Independent. “The project’s partly about working through this weird relationship. I was interested in the transference of things that my father was – and what he stood for. We grew up with dead things around us, so I have this interest in anatomy, going back to how things work.”

According to Wagstaff, his father, a hunter and gamekeeper at various points in his life, ultimately abandoned the artist and his family to live in the countryside and pursue his own interests. As a result, the artist says he and his family members grew up with dead things around them which led him to explore his fascination with anatomy and how living things are constructed and function.

“Once something is dead – once it’s stripped of all its life and muscles – it just kind of becomes an object, and you have to touch it and really believe that it is what it was,” Wagstaff told VICE UK. “I use my body as an arena for investigation, experimentation and exhibition. As a means of supplication and contemplation.Through repetitive technical processes and abductive reasoning I seek a deeper understanding of my faith and scripture by exploring an aesthetics of theology as part of my own Christian journey.”

Are you appalled or intrigued with artist Lee Wagstaff’s plan to powder his father’s skull and use it to 3D print a replica of his own skull? You can comment on the thread  ‘Artist Plans To Crush His Father’s Skull‘ on 3DPB.com.

3DPRINT.COM
by  | DECEMBER 8, 2014