Forget canvas — all you need for a high quality portrait is standard A4 copier paper.
This application of 3D printing was highlighted on a recent blog post from Julie Reece of Mcor Technologies, and demonstrates the capabilities of this 3D printing process in the hands of one of Mcor’s customers, Michael Eden, Research Fellow, Manchester Institute for Research and Innovation in Art & Design (MIRIAD), Manchester School of Art. It seems that Michael’s background is in ceramics, he attended the Royal College of Art in London to undertake an MPhil project in this area.
According to Julie: “Michael is bringing the skills and understanding of three-dimensional forms he gained from his years as a potter to the new tools and technology that are now available, particularly exploiting the design freedoms provided by 3D printing.”
Of the Mcor Matrix 3D printing process, Michael himself says: “The fact that the Mcor technology uses paper opens up creative possibilities. The process and its traces (texture and the way that paper starts to resemble wood) adds something to the artistic meaning of the output.”
The first piece of artwork that Michael produced on the Matrix 3D printer was a portrait of William Morris (English textile designer, artist, writer, and libertarian socialist), who was selected ‘because of Morris’ reactionary views on technology.’ It is certainly interesting to ponder what William Morris would have thought about 3D printing and indeed how he would have utilized it?
The 3D printed portrait was created by simply editing Morris’ image in Photoshop and then subsequently creating a ‘HeightField’ in Rhino3D. According to Michael “It printed very well and the removal of the excess paper (something else I feel has creative potential) was very straightforward.”
Personally I love this piece, but art is a subjective thing, so do let us know your thoughts.
Source: Mcor Blog
