This past Sunday saw the opening of an installation at Coney Island in New York long awaited by fans and scans of the Great Fredini. After launching a Kickstarter campaign almost a year ago, Fred Kahl, the self-described “world’s worst magician”, has been scanning visitors to Coney Island with his Scan-A-Rama 3D portrait booth. Upon completing a significant portion of his 1:13 scale replica of the peninsula’s Luna Park amusement park, he unveiled it to the world on May 25.
Thompson & Dundy’s Luna Park: 3D Printed by the Great Fredini is a year-long installation that will only grow as the year goes on and Fred continues to scan more and more of the park’s patrons. The replica, which took over 10,000 hours to print on the bot farm set up with his KS funds, features hundreds of 3D printed pieces that pay tribute to Luna Park in its heyday one hundred years ago.
The Great Fredini, a long time entertainer at Coney Island, explains his motivation for the project, “Luna Park has a special place in history, a witness to the society being transformed by technology. These are the themes that are relevant to us today as our world undergoes the third industrial revolution. This piece is also about a deep love of Coney Island as the cultural melting pot and showcase for presenting cutting-edge technology as entertainment.”
Outside of his work as a Coney Island staple, Kahl is the Executive Creative Director at New York design studio Funny Garbage. He has since become known for his Scan-A-Rama 3D portrait device, hacked together out of a Kinect 3D scanner and a home-built turntable. Dick Zigun, “Mayor” of Coney Island and the founder of Coney Island USA describes Kahl lovingly, “Fred Kahl is a legend of sorts, with a legacy of bringing mind-blowing and innovative projects to Coney Island, from Burlesque at the Beach to America’s Favorite Burlesque Game show – This or That! His latest undertaking will immortalize the actual fabric of our beloved Coney Island, and I urge everyone to come see it in the Coney Island Museum.”
If you’re in New York, you’ll have a chance to see it all year round, but there will be a reception dedicated to the exhibition Sunday, July 6.
Source: The Great Fredini
