14 DAY TRIAL // Most of the things made with 3D printing seem to be geared towards practicality, but artists have been using the technology for their ends as well, as Nick Ervinck is now demonstrating.
The artist, from Belgium, used a 3D printer to meld organic and non-organic molds and sculptures.
The results are some truly mind-bending, mind-twisting shapes that you can probably spend hours staring at without getting tired of it.
There are some that make me think of mythical, shining trees from various high fantasy fiction books, and others that, I'd say, would make good ornaments in a terrarium.
I suppose that means that Nick Ervinick didn't set any restrictions to his imagination. He wanted abstract art so he made himself abstract art, even if it meant exploiting 3D printing technology for all it was worth.
Above and below you'll see some of the more amazing (and perhaps egregious) examples of real mixed with the virtual. Not all the items are exclusively 3D printed, especially not in one go, but the tech is prevalent.
For the most part, it's impossible to describe the items on display as anything other than “forms” although I suppose “formless” fits most of them to a T as well. Except, maybe, the weird, creepy vase. On the one hand, it looks like a tree. On the other, the upper part resembles the skinned head of a horned demon.
