Into the next dimension

2011 seems to be the year where 3D printing really took off. Flexible, quick, and increasingly affordable, it has become a manufacturing and prototyping technique that is now a realistic option to designers and manufacturers, with 3D printshops springing up as a result.

London's Aram Gallery is celebrating the growth of 3D printing by opening an exhibition which focuses on work created and produced with a 3D printer. Called Send to Print / Print to Send, the exhibition showcases work by notable designers and organisations, as well as including examples of the role that 3D printing plays in the design process, particularly in prototyping.

The intention of the gallery and its curator, Héloïse Parke, is to examine and demonstrate the role of new technologies in the design process. Rather than be presented as an exhaustive overview, Sent to Print / Print to Send is a cross-disciplinary pick and mix of examples. As Parke says, "There is so much variety in the development and applications of 3D Printing that there was enough there to really explore its uses [in the exhibition]."

Although 3D printing is already several decades old, the interest from Parke and the Aram Gallery comes from a drive to show experimental approaches to contemporary design. "We are at a time now when the technology has developed to such a level that designers can buy their own machine. The ease of manufacture this technology brings is doing two things. On the one hand it is enabling designers and architects to realise ideas much faster and perhaps even in the long run, more cost-effectively. On the other hand, we have designers who are experimenting with the machines and the materials they print, which drive the technology forward." It is Parke's intention to represent both sides of 3D printing in the show; designers must be demonstrating their commitment to testing, innovating and pushing – both in design and technological terms. It's irrelevant as to whether this results in an object that has never knowingly been printed in this way, or in the way that the technology has been applied.

Dirk Vander Kooij: Endless / Flow Rocking Chair, Plastic, 2010
Herman the robot, in his second life (the first as a welder in the Chinese car industry), builds furniture by ejecting a thread of molten plastic in one continuous movement

If we stay with Parke's latter use-case – that of designers pushing the role of the printer forward – then Parke is excited to see further developments, not just of 3D printing per se, but of what constitutes "ink". If 3D printing changes the way in which objects are printed, then they also change the concept of what ink is, and what "print" means. Given the nascent point which we are currently at, there is plenty of scope for playing with the technique as it develops and grows.

"There's something very calming about seeing an object come to life before your eyes, and something even magical about seeing a liquid 'ink' become a solid object. I'd be excited to see people not just chug out 'ink' but to cool or heat it at the same – transforming material properties whilst printing."

It is also worth pointing out that this "ink" can indeed vary. 3D printing is about the technique, rather than the material; resin is a popular choice, although 3D-printed stainless steel has been chosen for a particular work. Many different types of industrial-grade materials can be used, and it seems like we are very much at the early stages in understanding the possibilities of material form which can be derived from this process.

Chau Har Lee: RapidForm Shoe, Polyamide, 2009
"Although my most conceptual designs are showpieces, they are still built to adorn the foot"

Parke is very clear that 3D printing does not turn everyone into a talented designer, in the same way that Desktop Publishing didn't stop a tidal wave of Comic Sans and clip art.

"This is one of the very troublesome notions developing – that just because the technology is there, we should all start producing stuff. However, I'm excited to see young designers being able to use the technology at their colleges. Watching them studying design process in tandem with exploring new manufacturing techniques, I think, will produce some incredibly valuable and talented designers in the future. Hopefully, we'll see more designs intrinsically linked to their manufacturing process, rather than rapid prototyping being adopted out of convenience." That said, Parke doesn't consider a "novelty value" to necessarily be a bad thing; because the exhibition gives a broad overview of what 3D printing can achieve in the design and manufacture of objects, it sensibly offers an open and considered display of what's possible, rather than degrade the experience based on wow-factor alone.

"I'd be thrilled if people left the show with a better idea of what 3D Printing is and how it is being used. I hope the comparative presentation of the pieces and the variety in their manufacture will encourage people to grasp what this new(ish) technology is about."

Chloë McCormick: Warped Tapestry, Laser sintering and handweaving, 2010
"By introducing and combining new technologies and materials with traditional hand woven methods, beautiful, thought-provoking and multi-functional tapestries can be created that could prolong the existence of this declining technique"

Héloïse Parke is Curator at Aram Gallery.
Send to Print / Print to Send runs 13/01/12 – 25/02/12 at the Aram Gallery, London.