Aug 12, 2015 | By Alec
We are staunch defenders of the idea that 3D printed creations can definitely be art, and art can serve very strange purposes at times. However, few artistic 3D printed creations serve such a strange purpose as the project called ‘Why Not Hand Over a ‘Shelter’ To a Hermit Crab?’ by Japanese artist Aki Inomata. Like the name suggests, she 3D prints truly fascinating homes for hermit crabs, with the latest installment called ‘white chapels’ taking inspiration from Japanese wedding chapels.
Dedicated readers might remember Aki Inomata and her hermit crabs for this project, that started way back in 2009. At the time, her 3D printed hermit crab shelters were inspired by cityscapes and architecture, as was this installment from 2013. However, for this particular installment is completely focused on the white wedding chapels you can find all over Japan.
While weddings in the West usually take place in churches, these chapels serving as the inspiration for these crab shelters are quite different. While they look almost exactly like Christian-style chapels, traditions in Japan are simply widely different. Inomata revealed that people don’t come here for services or burials or even for praying, but simply for weddings – something that makes sense when you learn that just 1% of the Japanese population is Christian. And yet, 60% of weddings take place in church-like white buildings.
This mix of Christian church styles – from gothic to Romanesque – fascinated her. ‘when I visit western countries, I sometimes notice the origin of architecture, habits, foods, etc… in japan, they would be transformed into local styles. I ask myself, “Are we Japanese living in a mimicry of the western world?” For me, these imitations…of Western-style architecture seem to reflect identities of post-colonialism inside of Japanese people,’ she tells reporters.
Taking that inspiration to the white chapel concept, Inomata studied the natural shape of hermit crab shells using CT scan technology, and developed suitable and stylish alternatives in modeling software. These were subsequently 3D printed into hermit shelters, but ones in which hermit crabs instinctively move into and adapt into their own territory. That means no animals were hurt for this project. However, the final 3D printed results are truly inspiring and impressive. Who says 3D printed art can’t be functional?
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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A true "crime against nature."
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