3D Printing: The Future is Now for FACT

FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) is the UK's leading media arts centre, based in Liverpool - and is an institution that I've long been interested in. Despite having never visited, I was happy to be invited to write a guest blog post about 3D printing in sync with their most recent exhibition: 'Build Your Own: Tools for Sharing', as part of DoESLiverpool's DesktopProsthetics project.



In this short thought-piece, I embark upon the challenge of briefly explaining what 3D printing technology actually is / does, along with a short investigation into how it is meaningfully being used in the Arts. Technology has almost always played a part in contemporary sculpture, and I attempt to extend that tradition by introducing 3D printing as (simply) a new medium with which artists are exploring their practice, in addition to standing as a tool for desktop makers:


http://www.fact.co.uk/news-articles/2015/11/3d-printing-the-future-is-now.aspx

All3DP: Company Profiling

Despite having worked in the 3D printing industry for a number of years, my latest commission challenged me in a rather unfamiliar way. My work has always focused on the curatorial, creative and investigative side of how additive manufacture is being used - but lately, I've been focusing on the industry itself, and which companies around the world are shaping it.

After jumping into the (slightly daunting) world of freelance, I was delighted to be approached by All3DP to create some really important content for the site. Based in Germany, the industry blog investigates the technology as well as the latest news and updates from the world of 3D printing - and over the last few weeks, I've been profiling the most relevant companies that are helping shape this space.

With facts as well as explanations of what each company delivers and specializes in, feel free to jump on board at All3DP to learn more about which companies you need to know about in order to navigate this exciting industry.

https://all3dp.com/

Dubai: Hungry for New Technology

Last week I returned from my first trip to Dubai to support the Management team producing one of the largest events I've ever been a part of: The Dubai Airshow. This exhibition has a strong history, and stands as one of the many jewels in the Sheik's crown when it comes to national pride, engineering prowess, and of course, the ability to showcase wealth.

3D printing plays a (currently) minimal part in the Aerospace industry, but looks to transform the way that people build all kinds of machines - including aircraft. Now, what's important to outline is that I am not professionally interested in the aerospace industry - but I was thrilled to have the experience of working in the UAE amongst some amazingly forward-thinking technologists.

In terms of interest in the tech, I was surprised by how few people attended the conference tracks that I had created. Curated towards the Engineering / Aerospace professional, it seemed as though attendees either already knew all about the topic, or knew and cared very little for a discussion of 3D printing. In all honestly, I was disappointed by how little interest was shown, but I was fascinated to learn more about Dubai's attitude towards innovation and new technology in generally: it's basically very, very important to them. One other huge benefit of the trip was that I was invited to the Gala Dinner for the event on its closing night - which consisted of a huge silver service, black tie party for 2,500 guests at the Palm, Atlantis, with none other than Katy Perry as the evening entertainment. If that's not the height of UAE hosting, then I don't know what is.

3D Printing in Paris

My third annual trip to Paris to produce a platform for creativity and education at Le Carrousel du Louvre went just as well as expected. Within the context of culture and heritage that is the museum itself, I was delighted to put together another five conference tracks over two days, which hosted presentations and panel discussions about 3D printing for numerous sectors.

My role at 3D Printshow requires me to produce sessions exploring topics like Industry and Healthcare - but for me, the opportunity to create a Design track was the highlight of my work. In order to focus on a France / European 3D printing community, I was thrilled to work once again with Arthur Mamou-Mani, fresh back from California on a school trip to Burning Man, along with the inspiring individual that is Patrick Baudisch from Germany's prestigious Hasso-Plattner Institute. Seperately, their investigations - both in a design and an academic sense - into 3D printing for modular and conceptual design are stunningly beuatiful, and I'm convinced that they are leading this area of innnovation towards some incredible results.

Creating platforms for discussion and knowledge sharing is a huge passion of mine, and at Paris this year, I certainly felt a few "wow" moments in which I knew I'd created an extremely special moment of conversation. I was especially proud of the event, and look forward to my next (and final!) job for 3D Printshow in Dubai a little later this month.

Textile Futures: article for SURFACE ZINE

Super happy to contribute a short piece about 3D printing for textile futures in last months inaugural issue of Surface Zine.

With a love of all things fluffy / shiny / colourful, the collective's aesthetic focuses on a post-internet yet critically tangible mixture of sculptural art and fashion - which perfectly suited my interest in the contemporary use of 3D printing for textile development.

The girls have got an ever-growing intsagram following - so be sure to visit them at @surfacezine for some beautiful delights on your daily feed.

See the little article below (PDF). Unfortuntely, the team picked a slightly irrelevent image to support the work (that garment is NOT 3D printed!), but I'm still really happy to see my work printed in such an awesome indepenednt zine. Good luck to the team behind it, and I hope their work continues!

Pick up your copy via the link below:
http://www.surfacezine.bigcartel.com/

3D Printing + California: Highlights

Feeling immediately fabulous on my return - and dropping the "..just back from LA" card whenever and wherever possible - a trip to California to produce the seventh 3D Printshow event of the year provided me with an incredible opportunity to connect with some of America's leading 3D printing innovators. I put together three seperate conference tracks exploring Business, Contemporary Making, and Design, in addition to writing another feature piece for Disruptive Magazine and exhibiting a small collection of 3D printed fashion pieces.

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Julia Koerner
After a long online friendship (after writing about her work for a number of different publications), I finally got to meet Julia Koerner in LA, as she lead the keynote presentation within my Design program. Julia is not only a wonderful and fantastically accomplished young woman, but her stunning work is arguably leading the way in terms of 3D printed haute couture. She has produced 3D printed elements and designs for both Iris van Herpen and more recently, Chanel, and her experience and understanding of the material and it's design constraints are seriously impressive.

Anouk Wipprecht
Another incredible female innovator that I was so delighted to finally meet was Anouk Wipprecht - who is building the future of fashion through A.I, microcontrollers and 3D printing. Email comms between Anouk and myself have been going on for (literally) years, so it was amazing to hang out at long last. Anouk contributed to a seriously fantastic panel discussion which explored how 3D printing is implementing and changing not only designed products, but the design process itself - and her insights were invaluable. 

Behnaz Farahi
This young designer is fairly new to the 3D printing scene, but Behnaz Farahi's recent artist residency at Autodesk's Pier 9 program has driven some incredible work, which I was delighted to exhibit in California. The piece in question, named the "Caress of the Gaze", is literally reactionary, and the texture at play within the piece absolutely fascinated visitors to our event.

Nervous System
This is another design collective that I've not only been working with for sometime, but one that I've also really admired. Although Jessica Rozenkratz (from Nervous System) was not present at our event, I was really happy to show and interact with a print of the Kinematics Dress - the garment which was recenty acquired and exhibted by the MoMA. After initially meeting Nervous System in New York a few years ago when I was curating their work into the city's first 3D printed Fashion Show, it's been amaizng to see how far they've come.

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Working in this industry allows me to interact with some amazing individuals who aren't only interested in fashion and seasonal aesthetic, but who are driving the industry forward by innovating and suggesting some incredible fashion futures.  Personally, it is a privaledge to research, co-ordinate and write about their content, and I look forward to more and more people around the world appreciating the incredible work that they are all doing.

Next up, I'm in Paris and then Amsterdam later this month, followed by a trip to Dubai to produce my first UAE event. As always, I'll be documenting my experiences on the blog, so don't forget to check back in soon.

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Build day one at 3D Printshow California

 

"Caress of the Gaze" by Behnaz Farahi

 "Kinematics Dress" by Nervous Sytem