neoreplicants

Neoreplicants brings together the results of a partnership between Exeter Phoenix’s annual Digital Art Commission and the University of Exeter’s Centre for Additive Layer Manufacturing (CALM). This opportunity gave thirty South West based visual artists the chance to explore the possibilities offered by the emergingtechnologies of 3D printing to their art making practice.

Given training and access to CALM’s facilities, artists were able to create objects in computer modeling software, that were then printed through a process of laser sintering - whereby granules of a densely packed nylon powder material are welded together by laser, layer-by-layer.

This rapidly developing industrial design technology opens possibilities to create, replicate and adapt complex objects (including bespoke replacement body parts and prosthetics), sharing 3D files on the internet and printing them in a variety of materials. It immediately raises allusions to the utopian/dystopian technologies of science fiction, many now on the cusp of becoming science fact. New possibilities too are inevitable for the creation of art,

both as a fabrication technique and as a way to visualise and make tangible the (often abstract) digital information that is ever more pervasive in our lives.

The results of this opportunity reflect a breadth of interest and enquiry; from those seated in formal, manufacturing process to a more conceptual engagement with this emerging technology. For some this offered a completely new approach to their practice, for others an extension of their existing interest in digital formats.

Although many of the works on show exist in the form of experimental sketches, the first step perhaps in understanding the possibilities and potential for further development, some emerge as finished artworks in their own right, and one artist has been selected to develop their concept further into a solo presentation in early 2013.

Participating artists;

Catherine Cartwright . Mat Chivers . Sam Cook . Katy Connor . Maia Conran . Paul Channing . Susie David . Nick Davies . Martin Duttson . Diane Gorvin . Jacqui Harrison . Julie Hewson . Gabrielle Hoad . Nicola Jaberi . Jo Lathwood . Debbie Locke . Stephen Monger . Phillip Oreilly . Wei Ong . Sarah Parks . Josh Randall . Angela Read . Simon Ryder . Caroline Saunders . Helen Snell . Zoe Tissandier . Kasia Turajczyk . Jessica Turrell . Michael Werbicki . Nicci Wonnacot

About CALM:

Based at the University of Exeter, CALM supports many businesses in the South West who are already making

use of this technology to develop new products. Individuals, businesses and those working in education are also

invited to the exhibition to look at the artwork and its inspirations and to imagine how 3D printing could benefit

their own products and process.

Associated Events

Tuesday Collective

Tue 20 Nov, 7.30pm, FREE, limited places – booking advisable.

A discussion about how the development of 3D printing and other new technologies can interface with art making

and how each feeds into the other.

For more information visit http://www.exeterphoenixdigital.org.uk/commissions.php