As 3D printing continues to open up new design possibilities within the world of art, Stratasys and its collaborating artists will showcase a diverse array of 3D printed artworks at the upcoming ‘GLOBALE: Exo-Evolution’ exhibition, to be held at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany, starting 31st October 2015. The exhibition focuses on the artistic use of new technologies, exploring visions of a future revolutionised by 3D printing and other technological advancements. A number of industry-leading artists, designers and architects are amongst Stratasys’ collaborators, who have used the world’s only colour, multi-material 3D printing technology to develop their artwork. These include Zaha Hadid, Neri Oxman and Daniel Widrig, whose stunning new 3D printed collection ‘Descendants’ will be unveiled for the very first time at the exhibition.

 Daniel Widrig | DESCENDANTS

Exploring a futuristic context where technological development and computational capacities continue to spiral, Descendants addresses the increasing possibility of superior artificial intelligence and technological singularity, and how future synthetic bodies might look and feel. “With advanced technologies, such as 3D printing, already facilitating the customization and enhancement of the human form, the concepts of a post-human era of non-biological intelligence is now much more conceivable,” explains Widrig. “It is an inevitable yet exciting design challenge to begin to speculate on how new material bodies might be formed to face the real-world constraints of the future.”    

The elaborate humanoid figures were developed by overlapping high resolution 3D scans of male and female figures with intricate digital compositions. Bringing the digital images to life, the pieces were 3D printed using Stratasys’ color, multi-material 3D printing technology. This enabled Widrig to produce the complex geometries of each piece in a range of materials, in life-size human scale (size: 1751 x 452 x 292mm [Female], 1848 x 627 x 342mm [Male]). Drawing inspiration from both human form and abstract futuristic structures, Widrig combined color with rigid and flexible materials – achievable through Stratasys’ unique color, multi-material technology – to create the fluid, human-like characteristics of the pieces, while also enabling Widrig to portray an alien presence.

Zaha Hadid Architects | CHAIR

Developed by Zaha Hadid, founder of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), Chair (now 950mm x 750mm x 750mm) is a result of ongoing research being carried out within ZHA regarding the formal and structural opportunities of large-scale multi-material 3D printing. The starting point of the design was to create a relatively light weight chair that made use of its geometry, detailing and manufacture to highlight and improve its performance. This led to the exploration of the design potentials of structural optimisation processes, especially understanding the loading conditions of a person sitting down. The optimisation results informed a structural pattern that deploys material density and depth where structurally required. This information is also emphasised through the use of the 3D printing material’s colour and transparency.

Neri Oxman | ZUHAL: SATURN’S WANDERER and QAMAR: LUNA’S WANDERER

Traveling to destinations beyond planet Earth involves voyages to hostile landscapes and deadly environments. Crushing gravity, amonious air, prolonged darkness, and temperatures that would boil glass or freeze carbon dioxide, all but eliminate the likelihood of human visitation. Wanderers explores the possibility of voyaging to the worlds beyond with the world’s first 3D printed photosynthetic wearable, embedded with living matter. This is the first time that 3D printing technology has been used to produce a photosynthetic wearable piece with hollow internal channels designed to house microorganisms.