If you had a robot arm capable of 3D printing long strands of metal, what’s the first thing you would make? It looks like Joris Laarman, co-developer of the MX3D-Metal 3D printing technique, would first make some artsy furniture.
Laarman is no longer spitting out test prints with the MX3D-Metal machine, but fabricating elaborate and beautiful pieces of metal furniture, now on display at the Friedman Benda gallery in New York. The exhibition’s centerpiece, the Dragon Bench was designed to be based on algorithms and non-repetitive parametric modules so the generated forms are unique.
The motivation behind launching the show, for Laarman, was that he wanted to create a large sculptural work in order to show the MX3D-Metal’s capabilities. The artist says that the Dragon Bench shows what we can do right now — but that the best is yet to come.
Assembled from a variety of materials including resin, solid woods, plastics, metals, and made up of different shapes, the Maker chair series uses what will be an open source design that Laarman plans to release to the public soon. 3D printer owners will be able to download the files for the chairs, print and assemble them piece by piece for less than $50. The Diamond Table is similarly constructed from individual segments of 3D printed polyurethane.
