3D Printing

Who would have thought that printing can be done in 3D? I just stumbled on this site (actually, they followed me on twitter) and my curiosity got the better of me, I had to have a look at what it is they do. I found the images that I was confronted with absolutely amazing. And because my MA is about Print design, I thought it best to document this find here and share it with would-be-interested parties. Here is the link, you may want to go and explore the site by yourselves.

http://www.3dprintingmodel.com

To be quite honest with you, dear reader, I nearly overlooked them, as I was wondering why I was being followed on twitter by them. One tends to get such unlikely followers and I thought this was one of them. But without digressing much further, and going back to the subject at hand, this 3D printing technology has lots of possibilities. I most especially, because I have been creating things from scratch to finish, understands the significance of this 3D printing. It means that anybody who is inventing or creating a design for the purposes of presenting to a client or just to introduce the product and show the component parts, can do just that on a 2Dimensional surface except that it will be in 3Dimensions.

The technology is still new and I dare say, we may not fully realize the extent of the potential that it carries. I suppose if we can relate it to our various disciplines and how it can help us or benefit us in the designing process, then we would appreciate its importance.

However, there is one other crucially important part – the growing of organs and living tissues – That’s right. You read that correctly. This is supposed to be made possible with the help of a bio-printer! This is the core of a workshop being given by pioneering Bio-artist, Oron Catts, Brooklyn, New York. The workshop may be too pricey, but you can also attend his free talk, which is scheduled for Wednesday, the 25th of July, 2012.

What really intrigues me about this workshop is that at the end of it all, participants would be able to make their own living tissues with biodegradable materials, with the help of a device called a Makerbot. This is right up my street. Let’s hope Mr Oron Catts would come across the pond to the United Kingdom