Dec 15, 2015 | By Benedict
Celebrated Canadian novelist and artist Douglas Coupland has teamed up with 3D printing expert John Biehler to create 3DCanada, a huge artwork consisting of around 1,500 3D printed busts of Canadian citizens.
The number of creatives using 3D printing technology to produce innovative, 21st century artwork is rising and rising. The versatility and precision afforded by 3D printers enables artists of all styles to experiment with new artistic effects, and Canadian wordsmith Douglas Coupland has recently joined the growing circle of additive-loving artists. Coupland, best known for popular novels like Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (1991) and jPod (2006), also dabbles in the visual arts, often exploring pop art and military imagery. This latest work, 3DCanada, sees the artist getting his teeth into 3D printing, in order to create "a cross-country portrait of Canadians 150 years into nationhood.” The giant sculptural project, which will utilize 1,500 3D printed busts of Canadians from Quebec to B.C., will continue to evolve over the next two years, as the artist collects more and more 3D scans from seven Canadian cities.
Having no previous experience with 3D printers, Coupland sought the help of an expert to assist with the technical aspects of 3D scanning and printing. That expert turned out to be Vancouver, B.C. based John Biehler, all-round tech wizard and author of 3D Printing with Autodesk. After striking up a conversation on Twitter about the possibility of Coupland’s art being replicated by a 3D printer, the pair agreed to work together on the colossal artwork.
"He messaged me and I went to his studio and we spent about six hours nerding out," Biehler explained. "It was really cool for me.”
After some lengthy discussions on the subject of 3D printing, 3D scanning and more, Coupland purchased his own equipment. Once the gear was set up, the author-cum-artist began experimenting with a variety of 3D printing techniques.
"He has a bowl on the kitchen table full of these 3D printed busts…but they're all famous people," Biehler said. "Every time someone would come to the studio he did a 3D printed bust.”
Biehler has hugely enjoyed the collaboration, having relished the chance to work on something outside of his regular purview. ”It's one of the coolest things I've ever worked on," the 3D printing guru admitted. "I'm using my skills to do something so different than I've done before. Doug and I collaborated quite closely on how we were capturing and printing the scans, so overall the result really feels like a collaboration.”
The artwork was initially commissioned by Canadian department store Simons, which is hosting the 3D scanning and printing booths at which citizens can come and join the project. “3D printing is changing the way we create, build and design almost everything,” said Simons CEO Peter Simons. “We invite Canadians to experience the technology and join us in capturing a moment in Simons’ history.
The first scans were collected in July at the Quebec City flagship store, where Biehler experienced some opening day nerves.
"We didn't know how it would go," the maker confessed. ”Would it be really popular or would there just be crickets?” Luckily, the former proved to be the case. “It exceeded all our expectations. We had to turn away hundreds of people.”
The project is utilizing a number Structure Scanners from Occipital to collect the 3D scans of citizens, and 13 Tinkerine DittoPro 3D printers to create the 3D printed busts for participants to keep. Data from the 3D scans will later be used by Coupland to create the huge artwork, which will be permanently exhibited at the Toronto branch of Simons.
The next scheduled scanning events will be held in Ontario and Alberta, in fall 2016 and spring 2017 respectively. 3DCanada is due to be unveiled in 2019.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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