Summer Dispatches: Laura Devendorf
Laura Devendorf (Information) was one of five exceptional graduate students to be awarded a $1000 BCNM Summer Research Award. Check out what she's done so far!'
This summer I used the BCMN Summer Research Grant to build a new kind of 3D printer. This 3D printer isn't a machine like you might expect, it's a system that tells a human how to act like a 3D printer machine when they make something. With my system, the user becomes the machine and can print with everyday materials in everyday places. In studying the design with users, I'm looking to provoke conversations about the role 3D printing, and digital fabrication more broadly, might play in everyday creative practice. I am hoping the results from this work might lend insights into the design of digital fabrication systems where the goal isn't necessarily satisfaction with a printed model but, instead, new creative insights and inspirations.
These photos represent some of the 3D structures that I've created with my system:
You can see Laura actually using the system in the video below!
Laura pipe cleaner hand 2 from Pier 9 on Vimeo.