Oct 8, 2015 | By Alec
Over the last few years we’ve seen so many fantastic examples of 3D printed art, that we can definitely say that 3D printed objects can be art too. However, one Spanish artist is already taking 3D printed art to an entirely new level in a brand new exhibition, by asking himself what is and isn’t 3D printed and what the effects are for our planet. With two new works of art, called 3DsoundPrinter_Can and 3DlightPrinter_Glass Bottle, Spanish new media artist Hugo Martínez-Tormo 3D prints both light and sound for exhibition A.N.T. Arte y Naturalezas Tecnológicas (Sep. 18 - Nov. 14, 2015), at the Punto Gallery, Valencia. At the same time, he’s asking us to think about the pollution caused by unbridled manufacturing.
Artist Hugo has a very interesting way to artistically express himself, and that is partly due to his background. Educated in Fine Arts, Agricutural Engineering, and Multimedia and Visual Arts, he combines knowledge about science and engineering with questions about environmental problems and ecology. This results in a very interactive and audiovisual installations, mechanical and acoustic installations, often including electronics, programming, performance, painting, sculpture or photography. In short, he’s a multidisciplinary New Media artist, so it’s hardly surprising that 3D printing would be on his list of targets too.
3D printing light.
And the 3DsoundPrinter_Can and 3DlightPrinter_Glass Bottle installations are truly remarkable machines. In essence, both are deconstructed 3D printers, where the main components remain totally functional; this includes the microcontroller, the LCD panel, or the stepper motors for the x,y,z axes and the extruder. ‘I tried to simplify the 3D printers with the least possible components,’ he explains. ‘3D printing is a recent technology that is growing and used in different fields. But, what I mean to convey is the concern about asking for how things work, and rethink how the new tools can be used to change the world.’
With these particular installations, Hugo asks us to think about the ecological consequences of our making. His light 3D printer revolves around a discarded glass bottle he found earlier this year in a region regularly wrecked by wildfire. ‘The appearance of this object, which should disappear from these natural spaces, due to the high risk involved in the generation of fires, it is a clear symptom of a society conforming heading towards a post-ecological dystopia,’ he says. His sound 3D printer, meanwhile, revolves around an aluminum can.
Essentially, he is 3D printing sound and light – the consequences of the objects being discarded, the can falling to the floor, the light reflected through the glass bottle. ‘[The goal is to] give visibility to a new green and sustainable socio-economic situation, and the amount of waste that ends up scattered across the territory, being able to interest the visitor to see the extent of such contamination,’ Hugo explains. ‘The documentation and replication of an object, objet trouvé, by using 3D printing technology, and the subsequent questioning of the functionality of the machine, generates a new and atypical behavior through predesigned programming code for producing a volume, generating a new behavior, in my case, a sound or a light composition through an electromechanical installation.’
3D printing sound.
Incidentally, a large portion of the installation itself is also made with 3D printing technology, which is rather fitting. The found objects themselves have been 3D scanned and subsequently 3D printed on Hugo’s PRUSA i3 3D printer in PLA. ‘Also, several components for the "3DlightPrinter_Glass Bottle" installation are made by a 3D printer machine, as the light tubes or the piece that connects the stepper motor to the glass sphere,’ he adds. The assembly of the installations can be seen in the clip below. The result is a very fascinating that combines exciting new manufacturing options with a big warning about the dangers of unbridled making. Can the two be combined?
Making Of - 3Dlight&soundPrinter
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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