Computer aided design has been around for decades now. With the emergence of platforms like AutoCAD, Maya, Solidworks and the rest, 3D modelling has reached new heights in today’s modern communities. We’d like to wonder about the future of sculpture with regards to these fat paced developments. Surely there are quite a number of digital sculptors already at this point. The jewelry industry has already made CAD and CAM (Computer aided machiniery) an integral process of their manufacturing line. Will art also lean towards the digital frontier?
When speaking of sculpture CAM, the degree of difficulty and cost for production are currently much higher than those counterparts that rival painting and photography. Photoshop for example, is easily obtainable, and printing options are plentiful. Lithography is also a high class media that digital 2D artists can use. The problem with replicating 3D models is that CAM technology is very limited to those with more abundant resources. one machine from Solidscape or ZCorporation (3D Printers) can fetch up to over 25,000 US dollars, and not every artist can afford to shell out that kind of money. Likewise, another obstacle is the fact that these 3D printers can only ‘print’ using wax or composite plastics. Many of these media aren’t traditionally used as materials for fine sculpture. The bright side for them is that with the emergence of contemporary sculpture, media selection has broadened and plastics are now sometimes involved with different styles of hybrid sculpture.
The future of the three dimensional art world is soon approaching our doorstep, and when it does, we’ll have a lot more interesting stories to tell about the progressions and novelty discoveries that arise from man’s growing desire to improve. We here at Artsculptor just hope that the development of these capabilities will not hinder our true definition of art. Art is a human rebellion against the mass-produced. It is an original expression of one’s own self that should not be categorized with routine and robotized products.
Art sculptor 