HW 11.2 - Artists working with 3D printing

I'd like to showcase two artists working with 3D printing and cultivating opposite interactions with their audiences.

Mysterabbit is an international public artwork, in which tiny 3D printed rabbits are left in public places, to be enjoyed by strangers. This work offers something to the viewer, or potential new owner of the small rabbit, and provides a moment of joy, or wonder, or connection. The template of the rabbit and its ability to be 3D printed anywhere scaled up the project internationally, and beyond the bounds of the original team of artists and designers, led by Ji Lee. This appeals to me because I love the idea of spreading joy through artwork and little moments, and also the idea of surreptitiously giving gifts to strangers. I have downloaded the file, and will go and print this at the ThingSpace and then find a good spot to share this rabbit with my neighbourhood in Harlem or around TC. When I lived in Toronto in 2010, part of my art practice was leaving small sculptures I made in nooks and spaces on subway platforms for strangers to enjoy and have.

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Stranger Visions is an artwork by Heather Dewey-Hagborg (b. 1982, USA). I went to Bennington College at the same time as Heather. For this art project, she has collected discarded items from strangers on New York City streets (cigarette butts, gum, hair) and has processed these in a community lab to extract their DNA. She used a custom program to use the DNA sequencing to create 3D renderings of what these strangers' faces would look like, based on their DNA sequence. The renderings are then 3D printed and come out kind of like masks. In this work, the artist is taking from strangers, taking from the public to make the work, and then offer these back to the public for viewing. I'm interested in harvesting material and subject matter for artwork from strangers, and the degree of speculation that comes from this - how much does our DNA determine how we look? How much agency do we have in how we look? I am also interested in this work because I made an animation in my undergrad in which I tried to show what it would be like if all the DNA you leave behind in your daily routine would collect and form a dead clone on the spot whenever enough had collected. What would that uncanny moment of facing the dead clone be like? Would it be like a different version of a golem, made of what you leave behind, but dying instead of you, instead of doing your bidding?