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By Gabriella Vivaldi
Through the use of its own hands, over the years, mankind has established an intimate relationship with clay. The recent introduction and discovery of revolutionary technologies, which implement 3D printing and digital programming, is changing the status of this hardly achieved connection. Once hand molded, today, clay is shaped through innovation and creativity announcing a new vision and rediscovered potential for this ancient material.
Discovered more than 30,000 years ago, clay has been a loyal companion to builders, artists, potters and crafters becoming an essential component of everyday lives. Clay is made of a combination of fine grained minerals, which contain the exceptional quality of clay: plasticity. When mixed with water clay can be molded retaining its shape and if baked it becomes the recognized ceramic.
The simplicity and at the same time complexity of this material remind very much of the same traits of nature itself. Starting with the simple coiling techniques to mold the material into the shape needed, years later the invention of the fast-wheel changed the approach man had with clay, transforming it more and more in an art than a functional use of a natural material. The introduction of machinery established higher expectations to the possibilities and applications of clay, and the reduction of manufacturing time also became an important factor in the increase of demand of products. The development and craft of working with clay is a process that began thousands of years ago and has fully developed itself.
“Due to its natural origins clay has been studied by scientists trying to determine its chemical properties and applications, but also by artists who have molded it evaluating its potential and usability. Over the years science has explored and investigated all the opportunities that clay can offer, but now technology through the implementation of 3D printing, CAD design and digital tools is expanding the power of this material creating a new way of expressing its basic character” says Dr. Nicholas A. Polomoff, Senior Material Scientist at Material ConneXion. “With these technologies it is now conceivable to create structures and forms that were previously impossible to achieve. These revolutionary molding techniques open the doors to the creation and fabrication of clay and ceramic products featuring advanced geometries and shapes. 3D clay printers can be utilized to leverage inaccessible tolerances, thicknesses and curvatures allowing a more detailed precision which was unattainable through hand molding.”
One of the most fascinating technological innovations in the field of clay sculpting is L’Artisan Electronique, an open-source 3D ceramic printer combined with a virtual pottery wheel, developed by Belgian design studio Unfold, in collaboration with Tim Knapen. L’Artisan Electronique uses an OpenFrameworks interface to tracks the hand movement and positioning in the air, which is then redirected to a modified 3D printer that uses clay. The combination of traditional techniques of working clay combined with the virtual pottery wheel is an ingenious creation which mimics the typical movements of ceramicists and provides final products that have the exact same characteristics.
Another interesting example of how clay can be approached in an unorthodox way is “Audiowear” created by ElasticBrand, a multi-dimensional design studio based in Brooklyn, New York who partnered with the EKWC –European Ceramic Work Centre’s new CAD/CAM facility. Audiowear is a series of musical jewelry inspired by idiophone and aerophone instruments and the acoustic quality of clay. The collection is comprised of: a Trumpet bracelet, a Guiro cuff, a Whistle necklace, a Pan-flute collar, a Rattle and Xylophone bangles. Designed in Rhino software, the models were first printed on the ZPrinter 450. Molds were designed by splitting the models into parts and printing contra-mold parts for some more complex objects. After building the plaster molds, all the instruments were slip-cast in porcelain. In order to publicize this project and to show its functionality, ElasticBrand reached out to various electronic and analog musicians (among others Skooby Laposky, Michael Hearst, Zajazza, Dirt E Dutch, Daveytree and DJ
Ruckspin) who were asked to create sample-based and live compositions, from the objects’ sounds.
The transformations achieved by clay’s molding processes have established a new way of experiencing this ancient material. The boundaries that once limited the use of clay to the world of arts and crafts have been broken. Today, this material straddles the realms of innovation and technological advancement, revitalizing the relationship between mankind and nature.
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