Objects are measured in nanometers-units a billionth of a meter long.

Extremely tiny objects-e.g., blood cells, crystalline structures, larger molecules at nano scales-can be rendered as three-dimensional models using tools such as a Scanning Probe Microscope. Virtually anything that can be mapped in 3D can be rendered as a digital sculpture. The first domain, Data Acquisition, covers a wide array of systems operating at a full spectrum of scales.

Three domains must be understood and mastered by the digital sculptor: Data Acquisition (input technologies) Computer Aided Design, modeling, and visualization (CAD), and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM).ĭata Acquisition: From Microscopes to Satellites It opens a floodgate of questions regarding the use and future use of a technology that is predicated upon a 'rapid response' to the needs of a culture.īefore addressing the larger question of 'how to become a better tool user,' let me address the convergence of technologies behind what I am calling 'digital sculpture.' It utilizes the unique virtual space of the computer to pre-visualize form, to enable extraordinarily sophisticated formal innovations, to design at heretofore unmanageable scales with technical accuracy, and to produce objects impossible to create with the human hand. This paper was first given at the 6th Biennial Symposium on Art and Technology, Connecticut College, February 27 - March 2, 1997ĭigital sculpture draws upon recent advances in data acquisition techniques, computer visualization, and rapid prototyping technologies. Digital Sculpture The CHALLENGE of DIGITAL SCULPTURE:Īssociate Professor of Art, Arizona State University

3d digital sculpture artists