Community member Vijay Paul tells his story of evolving his popular home-decor 3D print into a mobilized work of art, exhibited at what may be considered the worlds largest art gallery: Burning Man.

At the close of every summer, thousands of people head to the desert carting along with them works of art that are so complex and unique they are often only comparable to a sci-fi universe. Second only to the fascinating works themselves, are the stories of how they got there.

Vijay Paul, long time Shapeways community member and shop owner of Dot San, has always pushed the limits of possibility. In 2012 he designed the first wire-frame stag head, an item so delicate and intricate it challenged the limits of our distribution center, resulting in enhanced capabilities for Shapeways and a beautiful 3D print for Vijay (unboxing video here).

No one could have predicted that what started in a 3D printer in 2012 would have landed itself hyper-enlarged and on a set of wheels carting over 100 people across a desert.

Stagg Head 3D print

Vijay Paul’s 3D Printed Stag Head as a Wall hanging

Stagg Head copy

The evolved Stag Head as an art cart for Maxa Camp, cousin of popular Burning Man camp Mayan Warrior

Vijay, how did you get started on this project? 

“The Mayan warrior organizers, were looking for a style for the Maxa camp and luckily found my designs. They asked my permission to use it and adapt it for the cart and create pendants. I was lucky to be invited to this years festival and meet the Maxa team and experience Burning Man for myself and how everything worked and how people engaged with it.

The response from other burners was amazing it definitely stood out from the other carts. The team had installed a DJ booth, with sound system, lounge areas and the whole cart was lit up with multi colored light sequence.

Stag head vehicle lit up at night

Can you tell us more about “Maxa” and what your hopes are for the future of the Stag head Vehicle?

The Maxa Camp are the cousins of Mayan Warrior. The Mayan has been going for 8 years and is one of the best and most iconic sound/art carts at the Burning Man. This year was the first time for the Maxa Camp and the deer (Kauyumari) art cart. The talk is to continually develop the cart and camp over the years to become an iconic part of Burning Man festival.

Of course I have to ask, did you bring any 3D prints of your stag head to the event?

I was asked to create pendants that were gifted to burners and given out to camp members as recognition for their work. This was a huge order, over 1200 units in multi-colored polished plastics and a range of metals. Shapeways did a fantastic job in creating these in a short time frame.

3D Printed Pendants 3D Printed Pendants

The stag/deer head, has become iconic because of the designs versatility from 1:12 scale version for miniature houses to 2D stickers and now, a 9 meter high art cart. Having a shop on Shapeways which requires regular gallery updates, constant promotion and designs that tell a story that capture the imagination definitely helped my designs to be discovered, this experience is the lucky break people talk about.”

If you want to bring home the experience of Burning Man, be sure to check out Vijay’s shop here on Shapeways. You’ll be able to find the stag head in as many sizes as you can imagine, as well as a ton of other animals he’s transformed into wireframe beauties.