3D Printing

Top 3D Printing Artist Experiments with Another New Business Approach on imaterialise

When it coms to 3D printed sculptures it really does not get much better than Eric Van Straaten’s work. 3Dprintingindustry.com has covered many of his accomplishments and experimentations in the past, including videos of his shows and the recently introduced model repair service for 3D printing.

Now Van Straaten, who has always worked with imaterialise and uses 3D Systems’s full colour CJP sandstone technology for his creations, is experimenting with a new business approach to make his work available and accessible to more people than ever before.

Available exclusively through imaterilise’s online marketplace, Van Straaten is creating a series of miniatures inspired by “Hummels”, which are kitsch little porcelain figures that are commonly collected. Each model will be a miniature version of the artists actual work but will be available at a much lower price. The pricing method is actually the real novelty as each new piece, which will be added every two months, will have a starting price of 75 euro that will gradually increase to a final price of 250 euro.

The first miniature available is the Little Princess, measuring 85 (h) x 74 (w) x 59 (d) mm. So, if you are a fan of Van Straaten’s work, acting quickly may be a great opportunity to get your hands on some truly amazing 3D printed sculptures.

This, however, brings us to a new consideration: what exactly makes an artwork stand out as such, when it can be replicated an infinite amount of times? Should not art be unique? As Van Straaten explains in a very interesting interview on his inspirations and motivations, he has embraced 3D printing as a mean to achieve perfection (in terms of realism) in his creations; he is not interested in “uncontrollable circumstances that create expressive qualities in more traditional ways of working.”

“Technically – he explains – I am inspired by the ‘struggle’ to achieve a ‘perfect’ result with limited means. Although working in the digital domain seems to provide you with unlimited means, 3D printing at this level is a big technical challenge and I like to think of ‘workarounds’ without becoming too much code-minded and more by combining user-friendly combinations of different kinds of software. This feels more like an artistic voyage than a technical one.”

What this means is that he lives the artistic struggle in the creative realm that exists between designing a perfect digital model and carrying that perfection into a physical version. Once that has been accomplished, anyone can access it and then, when that becomes easier to do through new technologies he will move toward new and more complex arenas to explore. But does that make him an artist or a technical researcher?

There is no doubt in my mind that technology and art can mix and open new paths for artistic expression, as well as make art works available and accessible to more people than ever. In this testing of boundaries, Van Straaten is certainly an expert, as his work is often focused on subjects considered to be taboo, such as the depiction of beautiful, partially naked, pubescent girls, on the threshold to womanhood. Something that some may consider to be too edgy, especially when associated with animals with somewhat disturbing human-like expressions.

But in this case the artistic question is a non-issue for me: pushing boundaries by depicting beauty (or ugliness) in any form, to bring out emotions in those viewing it, is exactly what an artist does. Which does leave an unanswered question: when the miniature you want is available on iMaterialise, will you buy it? In the meantime here is a gallery of some of my own favourites.