Triple Fluid Collision, 1/50

This is number 1 of a series of 50 custom-designed, 3D-printed Triple Fluid Collision models. Each one of the 50 is unique, made specially for you, and will never be printed again. Creating this particular model required hours of time on a custom-built high-performance workstation using software strictly of my own design. When you purchase this work, Shapeways will build it from high-strength nylon powder on an industrial 3D printer using a process called "Selective Laser Sintering" and will ship it directly to you. In addition, I will send you a certificate of authenticity and give you the option of receiving a digital copy of the data that was used to make the print. I will also promptly remove the model from being offered for sale on the Shapeways web site. It will remain visible to future visitors as documentation of the work.

Because this particular model has not been printed (and will only be printed once), You will only be able to see sample renderings of the work. Any photographs above are of prototypes or prints from earlier in the series. Rest assured that these prints are of the highest quality available from current software and hardware technology.

Please note that prices will increase as the series is sold out. The first print in the series will be sold at cost. Every subsequent work in the series will cost 10% more than the previous work. After 50, no more similar works will be produced.

I've always loved writing computer programs that simulate nature, ever since the first TI-99 4A entered the house. Since then, the biggest challenge for me was to simulate fluids *accurately*. The shapes that fluids take in nature---and the shapes that they impose upon the rest of nature---are endlessly fascinating. When many of my friends graduated and started making money, I chose to stay in school and see how far this could go. I chose to research front-tracking methods for fluid simulation. Put simply, I generated virtual fluid simulations and observed how the interfaces or surfaces in the flows evolved. The results were beautiful, and I continue using that code to generate new shapes today.

This particular simulation began as three fluid spheres in another fluid. The sphere on the top defined the boundary of a heavy fluid, and the spheres below, a lighter fluid. These fluids fell and rose, respectively, and crashed into each other. Upon closing and colliding, the spheres spread out, their surfaces stretched and folded and contorted, resulting in the shape you see above. The output of the simulation was aligned and cropped to show the interior of the tangled mess, then run through some custom voxelization programs to create this model.