In a celebration of successfully crowd-founded objects that made it – or have a chance to make it – into popular culture, New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has launched a new Kickstarter @ MoMA section on its eCommerce website, selling items and accessories that became real products because people wanted them.
While some of the hottest and most successful items on Kickstarter are 3D printers, the size and price (i.e. below $200 and easy to ship) of the 22 objects that the MoMA Store chose to present during NYCxDESIGN, the city’s yearly celebration of design, means that the only 3D printing related tool is the 3Doodler. The first 3D printing pen is also, arguably, the best fit.
A 3Doodler enables designers and artists to create 3D drawings by extruding a stream of ABS or PLA filament that stays suspended in space as it cools. While the concept was truly revolutionary, according to some, not so much according to others, when first announced it is based on a rather simple technology and is very easy and fun to use.
This makes the 3Doodler a perfect introduction to the workings of FDM 3D printers, becoming both a tool of artistic expression and education. Through the e-store registered MoMa members will get a 20% discount on the final retail price of $99.00, while current 3Doodler users will also be able to purchase filament refills in different colours, including standard, neon, glow in the dark, white and black.
Other Kickstarter items in the MoMA store include original wooden creations, a robot construction kit, a few designer items and some useful technological inventions, though arguably the 3Doodler represents the most radical innovation there, thus fulfilling the museum’s mission of showing how everyone is capable of making incredible things.
