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Bees, the Original 3D Printers

By Roger Liucci | 3D Printing

Not too many people love bees, nor do we typically compare them to 3D Printers, but hey are they using additive technology.

At the Artist in Residence Art Show at Pier 9 Jennifer Robin Berry, 38, biologist, displays her piece: “The Virgin Queen and the Almond” made of beeswax, honey, stainless steel, laser-cut acrylic, electronics, and CAM software. Bee’s are 3D Printers.

Check out Shaan Hurley’s blog http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2015/02/artist-in-residence-art-show-at-pier-9.html

Another great artist using additive technologies in fascinating ways is John Edmark He uses 3D Printing to create blooms.

These 3-D printed sculptures, are designed to animate when spun under a strobe light. The placement of the appendages is determined by the same method nature uses in pinecones and sunflowers. The rotation speed is synchronized to the strobe so that one flash occurs every time the sculpture turns 137.5º—the golden angle. If you count the number of spirals on any of these sculptures you will find that they are always Fibonacci numbers.

For this video, rather than using a strobe, the camera was set to a very short shutter speed (1/4000 sec) in order to freeze the spinning sculpture.

John Edmark is an inventor/designer/artist. He teaches design at Stanford University.

If you’re a maker you’ll love Instructables:
To learn how blooms are made visit: http://www.instructables.com/id/Blooming-Zoetrope-Sculptures/

INDUSTRIES:

Published on March 19, 2015 in 3D Printing.

About the Author

Roger, our senior BIM specialist, specializes in all things architecture & construction and has been with Microsol Resources since 2001. He provides technical support for our architectural, interiors, construction and engineering clients.

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