Art & Sculpture

3D Printed Nudes

There is a saying here in the UK, that goes “familiarity breeds contempt” but working in ‘3DPland’ it’s a saying that never quite rings true for me, at least as far as my career is concerned, because there is always something new that causes my eyebrows to rise inadvertently and chuckle at the imagination as well as admire and learn from the determination and gifts of people that are 3D printing for themselves. And that is exactly what happened when I came across this latest application of the tech, undertaken by Entiresia, who has set up a blog to regale his audience with his personal 3D printing adventure — 3D Printed Nudes.

Entiresia is inspired by the sculptures of Auguste Rodin and the photography of Sascha Hüttenhain, but seems equally captivated with 3D printing. Despite being only a month into this project, Entiresia is creating a platform that blends art and technology in a very realistic way, and here, undiluted, is the motivation for it:

“• Classical sculpture has used the nude human form as subject matter for thousands of years. Humans innately find beauty in representations of the human form.

• The smooth, subtle, sensuous curves of a naked body present a real challenge for machines that are typically used for making mechanical objects based on digital models.

• Many great statues can be captured for printing using an ordinary digital camera and a free online service such as Autodesk 123D Catch.

• 3D modelling software already offers the capability to create digital compositions that can be exported in a printable format, but these files are not generally printable without extra work.

• Adding clothing on top of the models, significantly complicates this process. Making printable nude sculptures is both pleasing and much simpler.”

Entiresia has worked on three 3D printed sculptures to date, cataloguing the progress he is making with each one in terms of results and how to improve them. Iterations and the issues involved with each subsequent print can be found via the source link – well worth a visit!

Pensive-and-Sun-Worshipper-3D-Printed-Nudes
Pensive (left) and Sun Worshipper (right)

There is no specific reference to the 3D printer system that is being used, but it seems to be a RepRap or derivative according to the clues provided by the tags, the images available and the use of materials. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a way to make contact with Entiresia directly, but that does not seem like a good enough reason not to cover this great, and personal, 3D printing application.

Entiresia’s latest print, entitled Metamorphosis, was completed just last weekend and is based on the photo of Edward Watson performing in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and attempts to reproduce the pose as accurately as possible. The feature image shows the sculpture with all of the support material, however the video below shows the finished result, which I find really very appealing.

Source: 3D Printed Nudes