Jackson Pollock Inspires Harvard 3D Printing Research

One of the most important American artists of the 20th century, Jackson Pollock has played a decisive role in shaping contemporary art. Known for his abstract expressionism, he was an artist who stood out because of his drip painting technique. Pollock’s signature paint drips may seem like random splashes of paint, but the technique is much more controlled than meets the eye. Pollock constantly controlled the flow of paint applied it to the canvas in measured amounts, and dripped colors onto the canvas in desired patterns with the help of gravity. Now, it has been used in a surprising field as inspired by Pollock’s approach to painting, scientists at Harvard University’s Soft Math Lab utilized the artist’s famous drip method while developing a new 3D printing technology.

In extrusion-based 3D printing, the nozzle must be only a few millimeters away from the build plate to control the stability of the material flow and prevent printing errors. Because of fluid dynamics, liquids that fall from a great height become more unstable as they fold or roll up into themselves. Pollock, on the other hand, seemed able to control this stream in his painting techniques. This prompted the Harvard research team to investigate whether 3D printing can use Jackson Pollock’s techniques to quickly and accurately print complex objects and shapes from a greater height.

Number 1 (Lavender Mist), 1950 by Jackson Pollock (Image credits: Wikimedia Commons)

“We wanted to develop a technique that could take advantage of the folding and coiling instabilities, rather than avoid them,” commented Gaurav Chaudhary, a member of the Harvard research group. To be able to apply Jackson Pollock’s liquid ‘rope trick’ to 3D printing, the research group benefited from the experience of the study’s leader, L. Mahadevan.