[spectre] Conceptual Design and the The 3D printed Guy Debord Action Figure

[Louise Desrenards]

Reminder
http://www.criticalsecret.net/mckenziewark-editorial-du-detournement-et-du-design-conceptuel-on-detournement-and-conceptual,118.html#en
On Conceptual Design

Then:

The Making of the 3d printed
Guy Debord Action Figure


McKenzie Wark




Publication bilingue Français-Anglais
English-French Bilingual Publishing


[ Eng ]

01. The Guy Debord Action Figure

02. The Guy Debord Action Figure was designed by Peer Hansen using
Freeform Modeling software. Peer crafted his likeness based on
photographs. The haptic feedback stylus used to shape the figure can
be see above. It gives the designer the illusion of touch.

03. Peer’s work results in a 3D stereolithography (.stl) file which
can be interpreted by the 3D printer. In industries that make
prototypes of 3D objects, the designer’s plans would until recently
have interpreted by craftspeople, working in wood, metal or plastics,
whose methods were usually ‘subtractive’, in that they would carve,
cut, drill or bend materials. 3D printing is by contrast an ‘additive’
process, in which a machine ‘builds’ the model guided directly by the
.stl file. It has already transformed working conditions for making
prototypes in a lot of industries.

04. The machine used to print Debord is a z-form printer, which uses
something akin to an inkjet printer head that moves through a bed of
powder. The head slowly builds the object through each pass across the
cross-section, building it up one layer at a time. As the machine
continues to add layers of cross-sections, slowly a 3D figure is
achieved. Unlike other forms of 3D printing, z-form allows structural
overhangs as it uses a binding chemical instead of a hot molten
thread. This allows a greater flexibility in printable forms as it
less heavy when produced. However when the print comes out of the
machine, it is still fragile compared to the molten thread method and
requires chemical infiltration to harden it.

05. The machine used in this case is made by Z Corp. In 2012, Z Corp
was acquired by 3D Systems, a California-based company that holds a
key patent in the 3D printing world. The contradiction inherent in 3D
printing technology pits its capacity for the easy sharing of
information that creates 3D forms with the enclosure of that ability
within a series of proprietary systems. So while this technology is
already ‘revolutionizing’ many prototype, custom or small batch
manufacturing methods, this is not inherently ‘liberating.’ As the
Situationists did with their ‘détournement’, or plagiarizing, of image
culture, anyone approaching 3D printing needs to do so tactically.

06. Some Action Figure test prints. As 3D printing is a prototyping
process, regardless of whether it is an amateur or professional
machine, it will never have the same standards of quality as mass
manufacturing injection mold techniques. In this case, the first
Debord design specified a rather thin wall, which resulted in it
shattering during the z-form process, as the model comes out of the
machine in a rather fragile state. Peer redesigned it with slightly
thicker walls. The color Debords shown in the photos were made with
the revised design.

07. The left foot is printed separately. The figure is hollow to save
on materials and speed up the infiltration process, as it requires
less hardening agent. The hole allows for the powder left inside to be
shaken out before assembly. After a little sanding, the feet are then
attached with super glue.

08. Here are some of the second batch, printed in color, ready to be
infiltrated with an agent that will harden them.

09. The infiltration solution for z-form ranges from liquid resin
(which was used in the first batch) and salt mix (which was used in
the second batch). Liquid resin produces a stronger surface and
greater resilience, but it needs to be done in a clean room
environment with potential environmental and off-gassing effects. Salt
mix is an Epsom salt concentrate with a ratio of 70% salt and 30% hot
water. While the print does not have the same hardness or detail
preservation as using liquid resin, there are less chemical side
effects from using this form of infiltration.

10. It takes three coats of the Epsom salt concentrate to harden the
models. The process can be speeded up with a hairdryer, much to the
annoyance of other people in the studio !

11. Here’s a close-up showing the rather beautiful texture left by the
depositing of layers by the Z-form printing head. Materializing a
digital file in a material object can still result in an interesting
kind of tactility.

12. Here is a finished Guy Debord Action Figure posed in front of
McKenzie Wark’s two books about the Situationist International. The
first, The Beach Beneath the Street, includes an account of Debord’s
discovery of détournement in the domain of still image, whereby
cultural artifacts are re-appropriated as a cultural commons and
corrected in the direction of hope. The second, The Spectacle of
Disintegration, includes an account of Debord’s film works –
masterpieces of détournement of the moving image.

13. And so as a small tribute, here is the Guy Debord Action Figure,
whose action is smoking, but whose super-power is détournement. Peer
Hansen’s design is available free under a Creative Commons license so
anyone can make one [2]. But like everything in the society of the
spectacle, the ability to make and remake our own culture has to find
its own tactics in the margins of commodified life.

14. Here are the members of the 3D Situationist International. These
are to be given away with the launch of The Spectacle of
Disintegration.



McK. W.


[2] The two .stl files to realize a #3Debord copyrighted in CC
BY-NC-SA 3.0, some rights reserved (can be modified but without
commercial use):
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

 are to be reached at mediafire here, the body:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/t1zcq9hdbqwh7rx/Debord6body.stl

 and there, the shoe:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/7a9z533e95pza37/Debord6shoe.stl
(Source TW @_situationist_)


“The first independently printed #3Debord, and the first modifications
to the files (so they will print on some other printers) by Bryan
Vaccaro.
Détournement at work.” (May 27 2013)

http://instagram.com/p/ZlLNL0ANco/


Want to see the pics installed in between the Eng text + read the
translation into French?
Please go to:
http://www.criticalsecret.net/mckenziewark-the-3d-printed-guy-debord-action-figure-l-action-figuree-guy-debord-imprimee-en-3d,121.html