Where 3D Printing and The Avant-Garde Meet

By now we are aware of the amazing 3D Printing opportunities that are applicable for commercial use, but let's keep in mind the creative possibilities this amazing tool is opening up in the art world.

A recent article by Digital Trends.com chronicles the astounding art piece created with 3D bio printing techniques which pushes the envelope of art and science. Printed with living human cells derived from a relative of the late master Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch artist Diemut Strebe has printed a living facsimile of Van Gogh’s severed ear. Amazingly the living reconstruction also has the ability to hear! The creation employs microphones and is connected to computer technology that converts and interprets sounds. This "Frankenstein" creation is currently on display at the The Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany and will travel to the United States in 2015.

Since their arrival on the scene 3D printers have become a tool that is impossible to ignore in the art world. They have the ability to dispense accuracy in the micro, with repetition. While implementing computer design software and matrices, creations that baffle the imagination are within the realm of possibility. The computer has the ability to anticipate problems regarding gravity and physics, which at times eludes the eccentric and dynamic sculptor. In addition, it opens drafting wide open, allowing the artist to replicate creations with ease, while easily tweaking design flaws.

Note the case of Arup, a global structural engineering and design firm, recently documented archaically.com. With the use 3D Printing Technology they were able to design attractive steel joints that are created with efficiency, durability and "real world, hard-hat" applicability. This research work has the potential to revolutionize the engineering and architecture professions, providing lessons in cutting costs and diminution of carbon footprints and waste. 

3D Printing is unlocking the potential of creatives by providing them with a tool the can physically bring their dreams to life. It is as revolutionary as the induction of the computer into every design sector. It changes our ideas of what the creative mind can achieve, like the first time Van Gogh's avant-garde painting "Starry Night," was unveiled back in 1889. A revolutionary awakening of new perceptions.