UMake translates kandinsky's composition VIII into 3D printed artwork

UMake translates kandinsky’s composition VIII into 3D printed artwork
all images courtesy of UMake 

the original idea behind UMake‘s translation of ‘composition VIII’ by wassily kandinsky from 1923 was to experiment with the medium of painting. ‘our take was to do the same sort of experimentation, but interpreting it within the medium of 3D design and printing. in this case, we wanted to showcase a piece that uses geometric shapes to be seen as an architectural plan from one angle, and as modern artwork from another,’ says CEO evi meyer.

the process of making the piece was divided across different tools and methods. this began with sketching the geometric shapes and lines by using the company’s eponymous app on a tablet with a stylus, as opposed to tracing over the work with a mouse on desktop software. once the sketch was finished in 2D, surfaces were formed from the geometry by extruding individual parts to mimic the urban planning of a city. 

the printing process using BQ witbox 3D printer

after the synthetic concrete jungle was finished, everything was exported as an IGES file format and work was continued on rhino 5. according to the studio, ‘we prepared the 3D design for printing by filling any gaps and making the 3D design more precise.’ 

from a top view you can see the original geometry of the artwork

with the help of techfactoryplus the team was able to physically realize the model with a BQ witbox. ‘we debated whether to use PLA or wood materials, because I really loved the wood texture, but eventually we decided to go with PLA so it would better represent a blank white canvas. it took us around six hours to print this model and the quality of the witbox was pretty incredible — it worked perfectly on the first try.’

the designers wanted to highlight the depth of the model’s geometry by changing the light and shadow

painting process of the model to connect the new and old artistic mediums

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.