In the exhibition space SuperSurfaceSpace, recently equipped at the initiative of the Italian IRIS Group on Leo Tolstoy Street, the Minifacture exhibition-workshop dedicated to modern production technologies, which is united by the concept of Digital Fabrication, has opened and is operating. This definition fits very different methods of producing a finished product using digital devices: 3D printing, CNC milling cutter, laser cutting, which allows you to create any shape from wood, plastic or metal according to a predetermined vector. It is important that such methods allow you to embody a design idea without involving third parties. The idea first turns into a digital file and then goes directly to digital production. There are no obvious limitations and the human factor.
Not that these technologies are completely unfamiliar to a modern person, and especially to a designer. There are examples of skyscrapers built using a 3D printer, and in record time. 3D printing is often used to create souvenirs or engraving. But the organizers of the exhibition approached the topic from a different angle. They presented modern digital technologies for the production of design items to creative people - artists, designers, architects, artisans and other "makers" - in order to see what happens.
The action, admittedly, turned out to be very exciting. Small but sophisticated fixtures have taken their place on the looping transforming tabletop, which serves as the main platform for installations in the gallery and, with its futurism, well emphasizes the innovative nature of the exhibits. As soon as you cross the threshold, you realize that you have found yourself in a fantastic place where you can make a discovery at every step. Here, tin and glass cans that have received a second life "emerge" from a small white box, there - a small robot slowly walks in a circle, building a relief concrete cylinder, freshly printed plates are spinning a little further away …
The process is in full swing: the participants of the exhibition, together with the curators, continue to work on the creation of new exhibition samples right in the gallery. Visitors watch with interest what is happening, and someone gets down to business himself, draws his own analog
In total, during the event, it is planned to show eight projects prepared by participants from around the world. The largest of them is Minibuilders. It is represented by graduates of the Barcelona Institute of Architecture (IAAC) Dori Sadan and Stuart Muggs. At a lecture that took place at the gallery on May 28, they described and showed in detail how autonomous robots that print large concrete structures work. Thanks to this development, you can completely abandon the construction site, bricks and a large staff of workers. Robots perform any task according to the drawing - quickly enough and very high quality.
Another project demonstrates how a 3D printer can be used in industrial design. For example, within the framework of the exhibition, a scenario is proposed when an art object with a variety of functions is obtained from a waste tin can - from a souvenir to a watering can for flowers. This is also an interactive project. 3d.ru provided the organizers with a 3D printer for the entire duration of the exhibition. It is assumed that he will constantly print new samples from pre-prepared models. Visitors will also be able to participate in this process, leaving their own sketches and proposals. The best of them will be implemented.
Digital Fabrication technology makes it possible to produce interior items - for example, it is planned to show printed clay vases at the exhibition. Unfortunately, it was not possible to bring the virtual potter's wheel to Moscow, but the organizers promise to show a video clip about its work. At the exhibition, you can see how plates are cut out with a laser, or photographs printed on a 3D printer: they are broadcast by a special projector. An analog player playing disco is no less interesting.
It is necessary to tell separately about the event program of the exhibition, where, in addition to lectures, presentations and master classes, a long-term workshop is planned on hybrid production methods - that is, examples of combining the presented technologies with more classical methods. The workshop started on June 1. It will be hosted by representatives of the Moscow studio Fork Production. They promise that during the exhibition they will show the possibilities of hybrid techniques by the example of one large installation. In parallel, the studio's specialists will work with visitors on small objects that combine digital production methods and craft techniques and materials. At the same time, it is not necessary to be a specialist in digital design to participate in a workshop, the developers have provided a fairly simple software. The only thing that is really necessary is to register in advance on the official website: the number of participants is limited. A pleasant additional option for the workshop, and for the entire exhibition - all exhibits can and should be touched by hands, tested for strength, push buttons and levers - in a word, visitors are given complete freedom for creativity and experimentation. And those who will not be able to personally visit the exhibition have the opportunity to watch what is happening on Facebook. The whole event is conceived as a media project, so the page is actively updated every day.
The exhibition is open until June 10 inclusive from 12.00 to 21.00. Free admission.
