3D Printing Science or Art?

Hare created by SculptCAD Rapid Artist Heather Gorman

A while back I came across an interesting project called SculptCAD Rapid Artists, which left me wondering if 3D printing is really science or merely an extension of traditional art techniques.

The SculptCAD Rapid Artists project invited 12 artists to diverge from their regular mediums to create something new using state of the art digitalising tools.

The result a contemporary approach to art, which produces high speed and on demand pieces, and allows even impossible geometries to become possible. Each artist interpreting the possibilities presented by 3D tools and prototyping to create sculptures representing their personal creative outlook.

When asked about his experience Brad Ford Smith revealed that one of his greatest surprises during the project lay not in the impact of using 3D tools, which as he expected “did not make the creative process any easier”, rather in the response of people to the project. While many welcome this technology’s use for the replacement of missing or damaged bones its application to the world of art was met with long discussions on the value and nature of art, and acted as further proof that art will be fabricated by the simple push of a button, and that our culture is going down the tubes.