M1.2;
Entering the 3D printer: negotiations of imprecision in making.
3D printers are machines that do the making for us. You make a CAD drawing, process that drawing with a slicer, upload it to the printer and walk away. The machine does not allow live changes to the file, and especially not manually. This project investigated what happens if you re-insert yourself into the making process. This was done by manually moving one of the machines axes, in practise becoming part of the machine while fabricating. A tool was designed to facilitate recording of the human movement, and a design editor was made to forward the data to new geometry, manually programming the machine. This act resulted in a deeper relation with the machine and material and highlighted each parts agency in the assembly of fabrication. This work was published at DIS2024, and I got to present it in Copenhagen.
This project started from a curiosity of what a human machine collaboration with a 3D printer could look like, the first sample immediately surfaced reflections that were surprising and felt significant. This project was pivotal as it started outlining my personal angle of design research. Using applied technical explorations to generate applied examples of philosophical concepts. Generating physical examples helped me with understanding the agencies of material/machine/code/designer in the context of 3D printing. It provided a platform for my technical explorations to communicate their value, besides just a technical contribution.
The project revolved around C/A, MD/C and T/R: exploring the agencies of materials, using code as a creative medium, and designing a machine to facilitate collaboration. Moreover, I involved other designers and makers in a user-test, to develop the designer’s agency in the fabrication developing U/S practises. It also surfaced a tension of user-testing such an experimental tool, it was difficult to have conversations on the implications of the design intervention. Experiences makers versed in the philosophy of making were able to quickly articulate the concepts and theories I experienced myself. And elevated the insights out of my first-person experiences.
