Everyone loves mobiles – those delicately balanced sculptures that hang and swing. Artist Marco Mahler, in collaboration with fellow artist Henry Segerman, has released a collection of 3D printed mobiles this week that we find fascinating for several reasons.
First, Mahler explains that:
After an extensive Google search, it appears that these are the first fully 3D printed mobiles in the world.
There are a lot of things in the world and not all of them are 3D printed – yet. But artists such as Mahler are doing their part to convert the world’s stuff into 3D models.
Aside from the precedent, the models (and there are a bunch of them) are very delicate. While mobiles are always light, the technology of 3D printing permits models of unusual shapes and dimensions. The precision of balance is designed to 1/1000 of a millimeter.
Another way Mahler has leveraged 3D printing is to create mobiles with a staggering number of parts. Children’s mobiles are typically 6-12 pieces, but through the magic of mathematical generation, Mahler has one piece that is comprised of an astonishing 1365. Good thing you don’t have to assemble that one yourself – it is 3D printed in assembled form.
You can have any of these amazing mobiles by purchasing them from Mahler’s Shapeways shop. They come in 3D printed nylon, fulfilling one of Mahler’s objectives:
Yay, finally a mobile we can put in the dishwasher!
Via Marco Mahler and Shapeways
