Aug 10, 2015 | By Alec
While some critics have claimed the opposite at times, we here at 3ders.org are absolutely convinced that 3D printed creations can definitely be works of art. We’ve also seen plenty of examples proving that fact over the years, but we rarely see works of art incorporating parts 3D printed on an FDM 3D printer into a larger whole. And that is exactly what Dutch artist Martijn Hage has done over a remarkable week. At the request of Dutch radio program Opium (radio 4), he spent five days locked into De Torenkamer studio at the VondelParkCS in Amsterdam, working on his Hortus Filamentus: a gorgeous 2.5D nine piece, featuring 3D printed objects and inspiring alien-esque panels.
To explain, Martijn Hage is a Dutch artist from Rotterdam, who studied Graphic Design at the Academy of Arts Minerva in Groningen and graduated way back in 1989. As he explains to 3ders.org, he usually draws his inspiration from the natural, the technological and combinations thereof. ‘Let me say a mix of organic and mechanic. Sources for my inspiration are nature, technology, archeology and mythology. I always look forward to new technology to express myself creatively in there. In soft and hardware related terms I like to title my artwork. I like to work with high details and present my artwork in large format prints on dibont and acrylic glass at 2 by 1 meter or larger,’ he explains.
Hage at work.
And those themes can definitely be found in this amazing nine-piece work of art. As he goes on to explain, he was locked into the creative atelier De Torenkamer at request of the cultural radio show Opium from three to seven August, spending the time to work on the ‘living organism’ that Hortus Filamentus. ‘The idea for my art project came up as a result on the request by the radio broadcast Opium op 4, a prominent Dutch art and culture program. The plan, to lock me up as an artist for a week in the Tower Room of VondelCS in Amsterdam to produce an artwork in solitude,’ he explains. ‘VondelCS is situated in the beautifull Vondelpark, so inspired by its natural surroundings I developed the concept of a hortus botanicus, a botanical garden.’
The workshop.
The results definitely reflects those themes. ‘I am mesmerized by the theory of evolution and translated that in a generative autonomous ecosystem. My art project is titled 'Hortus Filamentus', it contains nine tiles each 50 by 50 cm of artwork with magical 2.5D micro-worlds in which 3D printing objects are integrated. Certainly not a still life but a living organism where in the course of time new 3D print objects will appear,’ he explains. And as you can see above, the combination of intricate digitally created panels and matching 3D printed parts creates an inspiring whole. The 3D printed parts appear to be a complete extension of the panels themselves.
The day/night panel
What’s more, hidden away in these nine panels is actually a tenth world as well. For one of the nine has two natures: one during the day, and another during the night. ‘The night version is very special one, it is a world first in technique because the surface is printed in 2.5D (relief print) code name Project EiGER (OCE), in combination with 3D printed objects. For this the 3D objects where printed with InnoGlow (glow in the dark),’ Martijn Hage explains.
Understandably, this amazing work of art took some time to prepare. Upon being invited for this project, Hage spent three months preparing himself. ‘It started with the base design of the nine magical 3D micro-worlds. I developed several generative scripts to shape my fractal based worlds and they were printed in 2D on dibont aluminium material as the end result,’ he explains. That approach is typical for Hage’s method, but then 3D printing was brought in to literally add a new dimension to this project. ‘It became a real challenge to learn all the ins and outs of this technique in such a short time. To make the art project a success I had to approach several sponsors for it. First I approached the Dutch company Ultimaker to provide me with their 3D printers: I got two Ultimakers 2 on loan for two weeks,’ he says. Dutch Filament manufacturer Innofil3D also graciously provided him with a premium collection of 2.85 m PLA filament.
With this setup, Hage set out to design about twenty-eight 3D printable objects. ‘For 3D printing, my 3D models had to prepared to be bullet proof, so I examined ways how to solve repairing and cutting of the objects when needed. Software programs like Blender, MeshLab, Meshmixer and CURA I used for design and preparation to 3D printing. Most often I combined several objects to construct a new one, a fantastic creative process to do so this way,’ he explains. But as anyone with a bit of 3D printing experience will verify, 3D printing that many objects in just five days and two printers can be challenging. Hage therefore also teamed up with Amsterdam’s 3D Hubs network, who graciously took care of some of the printing work.
These parts were assembled and glued to the nine panels to create the fantastic ‘2.5D’ Hortus Filamentus work of art. The final results were presented on the evening of 7 August, upon the conclusion of the lock-in. It looks fantastic, and Hage is already looking for options to exhibit this cool piece internationally. More importantly Hage himself has become convinced of what 3D printing can do for the world of art. ‘From now on I will certainly use 3D printed objects in my artwork to come,’ he says.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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He needs a larger printer like the gCreate 1.5 XL+
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