2. Digital bodies (Digitale skin)¶
Research & Ideation (Ondrosuku nanga prakseri)¶
My original idea for digital bodies was to make a 3D scan series of working women. Eventually I decided to celebrate body positivity and inclusion and tell the story of a plussized person with bust-middle-hip proportions that you would not easily find on the catwalk but who represents many Surinamese and Afro-Caribbean women. I first thought of scanning myself and tried it but then eventually decided to design Mammie-We-Still-Fly.
3D Models¶
You can download the printable STL file for Mammie here 1: !
Who Mammie-We-Still-Fly represents (Suma na Mammie?)¶
This 3D model represents an older plus-sized woman of mixed African heritage with a natural hairstyle Afro. She represents many of the women in Suriname. Mammie is typically how she would be addressed by men while walking the streets of Paramaribo or in the marketplace. She is not just a survivor of life - still standing after political, economic and social injustice and unrest, giving birth, taking care of her own and other peoples children, having to say too many goodbyes to familymembers and loved ones who either moved abroad, broke her heart or passed away. Mammie is more than a survivor, she enjoys life, she is a social being, she knows how to build relationships, she always finds resources to get by, she has a job and owns a small side business and she takes care of herself. Before she leaves the house, she always takes a look in the mirror and she likes what she sees. She dressess nice and always smells good. Mammie has dreams about the future and looks back at a life where the good outweights the bad. She has won many of lifes battles and is her own hero.
Process and workflow (A pasi fu Prakseri te na Meki)¶
3D DESIGNING: SCANNING VERSUS CREATING¶
In designing my digital body I made a journey through the hardware and software and also had to decide which material to use. I also had two lovely assistants, Theo and Julie who are both Fabacademy 2019 graduates and manage the IoT Lab.
IoT Lab has a Revopoint 3D Scanner. This is a handheld scanner that stays on a predetermined height and distance from the scan subject. Once you have decided on those two, while scanning, you can either scan and walk around the scanned object or turn the object while being scanned. Revopoint scanner link
We first scanned a waterbottle, then ourselves. I was not satified with the results and felt it would take too much effort to clean up the STL files. (See pictures)
I then decided to make a 3D model in MakeHuman. The program is very userfriendly and intuitive and I was able to design Mammie-We-Still-Fly fairly effortless. This is the creation of Mammie. During and by the end of the design process I made several screenshots to document the design.
SLICING¶
The next step to slice the 3D design should have been easy and enjoyable. I have worked with Slicer for Fusion before when it was 123D Make and I loved it. This time unfortunately everytime I imported the 3D model into the program, it crashed! I have no idea why because this only happened to me :-( My remote coach Nuria and Theo both succesfully imported the model and Theo even started to slice it before I could (Spoiler allert :-D). Anyway...
I looked for alternatives and have found an online slicer: Kiri moto online app This app is fully functional and has sliced my model. Next step is to lasercut the sliced model and see how effective this Kiri app is. By the way Kiri means "to kill" in Surinamese so I hope it means something else in Japan where the app is developed :-D. I sliced with Kiri and am looking forward to cutting it.
I also found 3Dslice2D opensource app an opensource russian 3D slicer running on Java script. The model was easily imported and sliced but unfortunately after slicing, the output file was empty.
Finally I was able to download my old favorite app 123D Make, the predecessor of Slicer for Fusion. Download link for 123D Make. It immediately worked!! Although Mammies afro hairstyle disapeared.
So I sliced Mammie up! Chop chop chop :-) This is the first try:
CUTTINGPLAN (Koti a wroko)¶
Once the slicing model has been established, the cuttingplan can be accessed. Here you see each slice, numbered according to the order of layering. I saved the cuttingplan as a PDF. Other possible extensions are EPS or DFX.
(LASERCUTTTING) (Koti a wroko)¶
The IoT Lab lasercutter is a Top Wisdom 150 Watt, full size lasercutter 122 by 244 cm from Chinese manufacturer Mophorn. It runs on Lightburn 1.2.01 operations software (not open source)
This assignment is my first time using this type of lasercutter. My previous experience is with a much smaller EpilogLaser (cut bed approx. 40 by 30 cm) which was very userfriendly.
I will lasercut by monday and hope to post by days end what the physical stacked model of Mammie looks like. Apart from a stacked model, I'll use Mammie's model to make something functional within my original theme of Amazone Rainforest. It will either be a plantholder or a bird feeder hanging structure.
References & Inspiration; Inspirations from Artists creating the human body (Prakseri den wroko fu bigi sabiman nanga uma)¶
My references come from statues and artists from Suriname and the Caribbean.
Erwin de Vries¶
A well know artist from Suriname, creating art with the human body is Erwin de Vries. He was a sculpture who created bronze statues. A statue of his is in Amsterdam Oosterpark in rememberence of the trans atlantic slave trade and the abolition of slavery.
Source: Wikipedia Erwin de Vries
Jozef Klas: Kwakoe¶
In the same theme of freedom and abolition of slavery, Jozef Klas from Suriname, created a staue Kwakoe. Depicting a Suriname African man with broken chains on his arms, in a pose looking forward, onto the future. This statue is made from bronze or coppper, standing in Paramaribo. The Kwaku Summer Festival in Amsterdam South-East (Bijlmer) is named after this statue.
Source: Wikipedia Kwakoe
Another statue of Klas depicts the indigenous family. The statue was placed in an indigenous park in a rural area of Suriname Marijkedorp, Albina. This happens to be a park renovation project I am involved in currently, so I'm sharing a picture I shot myself here.
Source: Wikipedia Jozef Klas Staues by Jozef Klas including Indigenous Group
Laura Facey: Redemption Song Emancipation Park Kingston Jamaica¶
This statue by Laura Facey is in a beautiful park in Kingston Jamaica. The name comes from a song by Bob Marley. The statues remind me of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Whenever I am in Kingston, Jamaica I make sure I run a lap or strole through that park.
Source: Laura Facey website
Tools¶
- TinyPNG
- 3d scan with Skanect
- Mesh repair with ...
- 3d Model with MakeHuman
- Wikipedia
- Pdf reader