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2. Digital bodies

Research & Ideation

Inspo 1 Inspo 2

  1. Venus of Willendorf as shown at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria, in January 2020. Photo by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen
  2. Vase in the Form of a Siren, Greek, ca. 540 B.C.E. Photo taken by me at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, MD, USA.
  3. I know your heart, Maddie Olsen, hand dyed warp, woven cotton and synthetic fibers, cicada wings, 2021
  4. A Siren and a Centaur, 1277 or after, Unknown artist/maker. Photo courtesy of the Getty Museum Collection
  5. Myah Hasbany for Erykah Badu
  6. Barry X Ball, Doorwoman, 2013-2019
  7. Schiaparelli FW24 Look 14
  8. The raptorial foreleg of a praying mantis, public domain illustration by Charles Owen Waterhouse
  9. Illustration from Erbario

What bodies make me geek out? The human body has been a subject of art as long as art has been documented. We discussed the metaverse, avatars, and the futuristic/sci-fi idea of a more-than-human body. In the present, I think generative AI helps ideate those visions. But there are many art historical examples that came from the human imagination, and thats what I am a nerd for.

Bodies/avatars in the metaverse can be personalized to the user. You are not limited to the reality of your human body. Hybrid beings are present in a range of global mythologies. How were bodies and behavior depicted pre-scientific understanding of their functions?

Because of my work background, mind first went to recreating art history objects for up-close investigation fuctioning as a teaching tool. Making the materials non-precious, digitizing the imagery/objects, allowing hands-on interaction, and changing scale creates opportunity for engagement in a museum/educational environment.

In a more creative sense, using these 3d modeling softwares allows me to generate my own more-than-human model, creating new hybrid creatures for my own imagined world.

weekly assignment

Research skills: the participant has acquired knowledge through references and Concept development Design skills: the participants has acquired knowledge on 3D scanning and modelling, mesh repair or manipulation Fabrication skills: the participant is capable of executing from file to production workflow, from slicer to laser cutting Process skills: Anyone can go through the workflow, understand it and reproduce it Final outcome: The assignment is assembled and either complete or tested Originality: Has the design been thought through and elaborated

Fabricademy Participants

I found both the inspiration and documentation of these projects to be good references for what I wanted to make.

Tools

Process and workflow

3D Models

I was torn between following my initial idea to use these processes to realize an art historical object I am captivated by but haven't seen in person, and the idea that I should make the object start to finish.

Upon reading Scan the World's manifesto, I felt compelled to follow through with creating a Venus of Willendorf lasercut model. This artefact was the first thing I thought of when it came to the representation of a body. 2

To familiarize myself with Rhino, I developed both files. I documented the process more throughly when I created my own model. To make it easier for Slicer for Fusion360 to process, I did reduce the mesh count on the Venus of Willendorf model that I downloaded.

I did this by

  1. importing the .stl file to rhino
  2. using the command "reduce mesh count" to reduce the mesh by around 80%.
  3. Exporting the reduced mesh version as a .stl for use in Slicer

Note I did not upload my reduced mesh file because I did not make the file myself. Instead I have linked to the source where I downloaded the Venus of Willendorf model.

The object was still recognizable but the extremely fine details were no longer rendered.

Below is a chart documenting the workflow I did for the model I made with Makehuman and Rhino.Find my .stl file in the footnotes. 1

makehuman

Creality Scan

We learned how to use 3D scanning technology as a group. I made a scan of myself but did not use the file to make anything this week.

Creality Setup Creality Interface

Slicing and Formatting for Laser Cutter

The laser cut nesting was created using Slicer for Fusion 360. My sliced files are linked below. 3 4

Material Used: Corrugated Cardboard 3mm thick, dimensions are 760mm x 1160mm. Set this as a custom material in Slicer.

Workflow 1 Workflow 2

Slicer for Fusion360

This application is no longer maintained or updated. It crashes unexpectedly. Reduce mesh counts on objects before importing them. Screenshot or write down parameters (size, material, slice distribution) in case of crash, you can get back to where you left off easier. I'm glad I did this. After I found a set of parameters that produced a managable laser cut file, I could experiment with other assembly methods and outcomes wihtout worrying.

Laser Cutting and Assembly

Flora Houldsworth made a great guide to Waag's Laser Cutter Flora's Laser Cut Guide

Laser Parameters

These are the parameters I used for this material & this laser cutter. All laser cutters are different, and all materials require different parameters.Always test smaller shapes before cutting your actual file. Depending on your laser cutter's software, you may also have different steps to prepare your file.

Workflow 1

Workflow 2

Fabrication files

  1. Human Raptorial Leg by maddieolsenn on Sketchfab

     ↩

  2. 3D model of the Venus of Willendorf
    Venus of Willendorf, 3D Model from Scan the World ↩

  3. Venus of Willendorf ↩

  4. Human Raptorial Leg ↩