Multi-material 3D printers capable of creating 3D printed objects in full color, or at least more than one color, cost a lot of money, but they can sure allow for the creation of some pretty nifty things. Just look at this lampshade.
It was created by artist Daniel Hilldrup, who used a Stratasys Objet500 Connex 3 Color Multi-Material 3D printer. With a price of $330,000 / €250,000, the printer can mix cyan, magenta and yellow to create more or less any color through “triple-jetting technology.”
Hilldrup used a script that first allocated polygons randomly on the surface of the 3D image, before he ordered the Object500 to make the whole thing in a single session.
The result is the lampshade you see in the attached pictures. It can cast a kaleidoscopic shine upon any room it is placed in. I imagine it could make for a really awesome wall-mounted nightlight.
Maybe Hilldrup, or some other designer, will make a translucent one next. Maybe a bit narrower, capable of actually covering a desk lamp instead of just hovering above a light bulb like this one does.
The name of the lampshade, as it is right now, is Trig.