Regardless of their particular design, all 3D printers construct form as a sequence of slices derived from a 3D model. This can be visualized by a stack of paper, with each page cut into a shape that is similar, but not identical, to the one that came before. While there are many materials one can print with, and an equal number of printing technologies to choose from, the fundamental concept of slicing remains the same across the medium.
3D printing also collapses the notion that the virtual stands in opposition to the tangible, as the technology allows digital information to be made manifest in the “real world.” This got me thinking about other forms of visual art, like photography, whose authority has been compromised by the advent of digital manipulation. It would seem that technology can both add to, and subtract from, the perceived truth of a medium – particularly at the moment when it enters, or leaves, our physical environment.
In order to investigate how technology is changing artistic practices, I propose the creation of a new type of 3D printer. This device, tentatively entitled Horror Vacui, will consist of a mobile platform, capable of moving a large television up and down train-like tracks with computer-controlled precision. As the TV moves along the track, it will display sequential slices of digital models, effectively 3D printing forms in light via long-exposure photography.
The first tests of the process were conducted for the Opposable Thumbs podcast, with a hand-held smartphone and a low-resolution version of the Visible Human Project (a series of photographs depicting literal slices of the body). As I continued to research that approach, I discovered Project 12:31, which already did a fantastic job investigating the troubling origin of those particular images. In addition to the overlap of source material, the aestheticized distortion of 12:31 suggests that it was also produced via moving screen and long exposure photography. Unlike Vacui, however, 12:31 appears to be largely unconcerned with reconstructing a believable volume or depth.
Rather than focusing on a specific subject, Vacui will explore the broader topics of digital material, impermanence, and the reality of the captured image. I will use the process to upload 3D models into the environment, allowing these digital forms to share our space, if only for a fleeting moment. This collapse of boundaries will only become visible through the medium of photography, though this perhaps is no different from the microscope or telescope, in that they reveal a truth that cannot be perceived with the naked eye.
More details to follow soon!