3 Ways Anti-Gravity Robot Printing Can Better the Arts

Your run-of-the-mill 3D printer needs a flat surface from which to work its magic. But Mataerial, as its name suggests, is not grounded in convention. Whereas traditional methods of 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, are prisoners to their workspace, and more importantly to gravity, Mataerial is as unrestrained as a bird in flight.

Its creators are essentially the Wright brothers of the rapidly-emerging 3D printing industry. The patent-pending method has been dubbed by them as Anti-gravity Object Modelling, and was given life inside the walls of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC). Working in conjunction with Joris Laarman Studio, IAAC researchers Petr Novikov and Saša Jokić developed this new digital fabrication method that was given form through the Mataerial prototype.

By the fluid hand of an industrial-grade robotic arm, Mataerial excretes a mix of thermosetting polymers that harden as they are released. The image below provides a clear angle of the jaw-dropping process.

This functionality allows for more natural and free-flowing results as is evident by the sculptures built.

With the added ability to weave in alternating color gradients in real time, the conceptual images provided by Mataerial indicate just how radical this new type of 3D printing can be.

And, watching it in action can be its own type of artistic experience:

Intrigued by the creative opportunities that anti-gravity robot printing may provide, we decided to come up with our own ideas on how Mataerial can improve the arts.

1. Building Better Movie Sets

In 2005, the average Hollywood film cost $60 million to produce. Even with the advent of digital cameras, which were supposed to bring production costs down, the average budget has been increasing in waves. This is mostly due to high costs related to more elaborate visual effects, the ballooning salaries of A-list stars, and the usual suspect known as inflation. Curbing production costs, such as the building of movie sets, might not have the greatest effect on Hollywood wallets but penny-pinching can go a long way when hundreds of millions are at stake.

Mataerial does not work as quickly as its promotional video would suggest (it’s been sped up for entertainment sake), but future incarnations might work at a more rapid pace. With printable movie sets that can be programmed to a production designer’s specifications, less visual effects might be necessary, thus saving money on that front.

Having self-serving 3D printers would also speed up construction times, which would greatly reduce production timelines and perhaps allow for more films to be produced on a yearly basis.

2. Crowdsourced And Crowdproduced Public Art

Public art is supposed to be for the people but rarely is it produced by the people. Committees usually help decide if enough taxpayer money exists to make a public piece of art a viable investment for a community, but the resulting work usually ends up being more representative of an artist’s oeuvre than public sentiment. Anti-gravity Object Modelling could change that.

Using a crowdsourcing platform to gather funds, city committees would have an easier time finding out what public spaces its denizens want beautified and in what manner. Working with an artist, graphic designer, or sculptor, citizens can provide input on the creative process and see those ideas in tactile form through 3D printed models. Once decided upon, Mataerial would sculpt a final design in real time in the public space chosen.

3. Real-Time Art Installations

Walking into an empty art gallery might at first seem like the ultimate jab at abstract art, but not where Mataerial is concerned. Intrepid artists could potentially program the 3D printing robot to build the art installation as visitors look on in amazement.

Through this process of real-time art installation construction, artists could more easily dictate the public’s experience. Onlooking eyes would be guided through an art piece that is as much grounded in occurrence as it is in the resulting material works.