Top 10 Applications of 3D Printing in Art

3D printing gives a completely new meaning to the saying “art knows no boundaries,” proving that new technologies and creativity are in fact very compatible, contrary to popular belief. Because the use of additive manufacturing allows artists to go one step further in their creative process. Keyword design freedom: working with additive manufacturing processes enables the realization of highly complex geometries with a high level of detail. Advantages that can be used to create replicas for museums, for example. But the application of 3D printing in the art sector is by no means limited to this purpose. More and more, the focus is on the additively manufactured object itself. The technology is increasingly being adapted by artists as a tool with which the realization of an idea knows hardly any limitations – except gravity. In our selection, we would like to present some current examples that we feel illustrate the importance of 3D printing for art.

Hypnerotomachia Naturae

The sculpture “hypnerotomachia naturae”, which was realized by Stefan Maier and Giacomo Pala under the supervision of Bart Lootsma at the Institute for Architectural Theory at the University of Innsbruck, is at first glance reminiscent of a construction kit. And deliberately so: because the modular construction is meant to remind us of the connection and contradictions of man’s relationship with nature and technology. Hypnerotomachia was realized in concrete in collaboration with concr3de and exhibited last year as part of the exhibition ‘beauty before wisdom. the knowledge of art and the art of science’ at the Tiroler Landesmuseum in Innsbruck. On display is a multitude of individual parts that are connected with each other to form a large whole. The individual objects are intended to remind the viewer thematically of the diversity of utopias, myths and cultures.

Mat Collishaw’s Equinox at the Dubai Expo 2020

For the World Expo 2020 in Dubai, which due to the pandemic actually just started recently on October 1st, 2021, the artist Mat Collishaw has come up with something special with the work “Equinox”. In an optical illusion, a gigantic lotus flower in the center of the Terra Pavilion truly comes to life. The blossoms spin, insects circle and flutter around the flower, pollinating it. For this ecological dance to succeed, the five-meter high and three-meter wide zoetrope opens and closes with the help of hydraulics. opened and closed. The petals were all 3D printed. It is not known which process the artist used for the realization, but we do know that Collishaw has in the past created a zoetrope for the Galleria Borghese in Rome in collaboration with the Spanish company Sicnova 3D.