Actual (building)->Virtual (model)-> Actual (3D Print)-> Permanent (Bronze Cast).
Cycle ends: Building=Bronze=Permanent.
These images represent an experimental process of 3D-Prints to Bronze Casts.
The process radically changes the long history of foundry work that usually relies on the lost wax technique. This process consists of creating a wax duplicate of the object that one desires to cast. That wax form is usually dipped in silica to create a shell and then the wax is melted out and replaced by molten metal.
In this case the thermoform plastic is heat sensitive so in fact the original can be replaced with bronze. Since the PLA plastic prints were produced on a 3D printer they can be reproduced exactly in whatever quantity is needed. All this cuts the production process in half.
I am interested in this process for my artwork because these pieces are based on a distant form of muqarnas tiling from the 11th century. A piece was translated into virtual space by observation. Then this piece was materialized using PLA- a biodegradable plastic. Lastly that materializations become permanent as a bronze piece. In sum, the actual becomes virtual and this is then carried over and becomes permanent again with the bronze cast.
Photo credits: Tim Buechel, superviser of Sitterwerk Foundry.
