{"id":38008,"date":"2018-04-18T11:07:17","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T15:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/?p=38008"},"modified":"2022-04-12T21:42:35","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T01:42:35","slug":"bronze-age-meets-digital-age-art-tim-belliveau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/bronze-age-meets-digital-age-art-tim-belliveau","title":{"rendered":"The Bronze Age Meets the Digital Age in the Art of Tim Belliveau"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tim

‘Artifacts’ 2018. Ceramics made from 3D printed molds at the European Ceramics Work Centre (Netherlands)<\/p><\/div>\n

Glassblowing is an exercise in precision. To make an object, blowers manipulate glass that\u2019s been heated to more than 2,000 degrees fahrenheit, carefully sculpting and shaping it with a blowpipe and torch. For many artists, working with glass is almost like a form of engineering. \u201cWe judge our success on how much control we have over the material,\u201d says Tim Belliveau<\/a>, an artist who has been blowing glass for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

Belliveau\u2019s work is precise, albeit in an entirely different way. For years, he and his fellow artists at the studio Bee Kingdom blew glass traditionally, creating amorphous shapes that subtly subverted the idea of conventional glassblowing. Then, a few years ago, Belliveau began noticing 3D printers popping up in studios and schools where he was working. \u201cI thought that it was really interesting to have both a handcrafted tradition and automated technologies,\u201d he says.\u201dIt was a really strange combination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'Capitoline

‘Capitoline Wolf’ installation with 3D modeled paperfolds<\/p><\/div>\n

Belliveau started to rethink his own process, which had become costly and time-consuming. He wondered: What might happen if he merged an ancient hand craft with advanced manufacturing? Would it be cheaper and faster? Would the pieces themselves be compelling? \u201cIt was a curiosity,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI felt like, if I can\u2019t make any headway in what I\u2019ve been doing, can 3D software help me see it in a new light? I hoped it would challenge me in ways I hadn’t see the material before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belliveau\u2019s first 3D printing project was an exploration in materiality and efficiency. He wanted to create a single mold into which he could blow molten glass. \u201cI was trying to figure out how to get from a 3D model to a glass piece as directly as possible,\u201d he says. The mold needed to be thin, to save on cost, yet heat resistant enough that the hot glass wouldn\u2019t warp and melt the mold upon contact. Plastic was out of the question; so was metal like aluminum. After months of research, Belliveau realized he could print Shapeways\u2019 raw bronze<\/a> at 2 millimeters thick and it would hold up to the high heat. He made 20 glass vases in a single day using the mold \u2014 far more than he could\u2019ve done by hand. \u201cThe results looked like gift shop glass,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"A

A view of the 3D printed mold for glassblowing in action<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Blown

Blown-glass artwork made using the Shapeways 3D printed mold<\/p><\/div>\n

His new process was indeed faster, but printing in bronze was still just as pricey. So Belliveau began studying a new way of molding glass that harkened back to ancient Rome, where glassblowers would sculpt a positive mold out of wax<\/a> and then cast the wax figure in bronze or clay. They would then melt the wax to create a negative mold out of the material and blow molten glass into it create an impression.<\/p>\n

For Belliveau, this age-old process was a fascinating experiment in efficiency, and it led him to adapt the ancient tradition using modern technology. For many of his new pieces, Belliveau now designs positive molds in software, 3D prints them in plastic, and then casts them in a clay that\u2019s able to withstand the heat of molten glass.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a blend of modern and traditional that ultimately democratizes the art of glassblowing. \u201cWhen I teach students now, I tell them this is a thing you can do from your home,\u201d he says. \u201cYou don\u2019t need a special school or special foundry.\u201d Just some imagination and a 3D printer.<\/p>\n

make your idea real<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Glassblowing is an exercise in precision. To make an object, blowers manipulate glass that\u2019s been heated to more than 2,000…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":38012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[489],"tags":[1654,2463,2462,2461,2437,480,1762,2465,2460,2464],"class_list":["post-38008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-products-and-design","tag-3d-printed-art","tag-3d-printed-bronze","tag-3d-printed-castable-wax","tag-3d-printed-mold","tag-3d-printing-in-art","tag-4-art","tag-bronze","tag-glassblowing","tag-tim-belliveau","tag-wax"],"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/05-e1524064525209.jpg","yoast_head":"\nThe Bronze Age Meets the Digital Age in the Art of Tim Belliveau - Shapeways Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Glassblowing is an exercise in precision. 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