Author Searches for the Top Vendors and Artists to Feature in a New Book

PRESS RELEASE
June 18, 2024

Author Searches for the Top Vendors and Artists to Feature in a New Book.

An author/artist is excited to search for artists and vendors using digital technology to create fine arts and crafts. Nearly ten years ago, Bridgette Mongeon created the first edition of “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling,” published by Focal Press—a division of Routledge/Taylor & Francis. What inspired her was the research she gathered while she created one of the first degrees in 3D technology in fine art. The author discovered through her journey that the transition between fine art and digital technology could be challenging. She found that her vendors would continually have to educate those in the arts about technology and possibilities. Mongeon wanted to provide a resource for her vendors to give to their clients, a book that would help creators understand the processes, the pitfalls, and the opportunities. Since its publication, academics have cited the book worldwide. She is now looking for artists and vendors to include in her new edition.

The 2015 edition was a milestone book that bridges the gap between high-quality gallery art and the technology used to create it. The author now begins the exhilarating journey of trying to find the best artists and vendors around the world who are pushing the limits. The term “art and technology” can encompass a great deal, and she narrows it down to these specialties— 3D printing, Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) milling, laser cutting, digital sculpting, and 3D scanning. She appreciates and speaks on how art informs such disciplines as engineering and the sciences and would also consider including data as art, nature and art, the combination of science and fine art, and art and coding – especially if she finds artists that use these combined with a technology component.  

Mongeon’s goal for the new edition is to find another 50 artists/vendors pushing the limits and being the best of the best. Artists must be willing to share their process, names of their software/vendors, etc. Though this is a second edition, the author/artist hopes people will continue seeking future editions to collect the art that the book features inside.

The first edition presented many artists making a difference in their field, such as:

·  Dutch artist Joris Laarman, who, at the time, created in collaboration with Autodesk using 3D printing in metal. Laarman is known for his incredible works like Dragon Bench or the bridge that 3D printed itself using robots.

·  Sophie Kahn led the way in 3D scanning as fine art. Kahn uses the “noise” or failure in 3D scanning to create works that look broken or fractured. 

·  The Digital Stone Project works with Garfagnana Innovazione in Tuscany, inviting artists to create using a CNC robotic arm and carving their designs in marble.

·  Also featured was Factum Arte in Spain, with a “team of artists, technicians, and conservators dedicated to digital mediation.” Their contribution to the previous edition brought into the real world the work of Italian artist Giovanni Batista Piranesi from 1720 to 1778.

·  3D scanning offers us a great deal, not only in preserving our history but also in allowing others to experience it. The 2015 edition shared the digital preservation featuring the incredible work of CyArk, whose mission is to create “digital documentation of threatened ancient and historical architecture.”  

·  Artist Oron Catts piece Victimless Leather from the Tissue Culture and Art Project at SymbioticA captivated the author. The seeded coat of skin kept alive in an art museum brought to life how removed we are from those things happening in the laboratory. She hopes she finds more projects from SybmioticA at the University of Western Australia that has, “a new means of artistic inquiry where artists actively use the tools and technologies of science, not just to comment about them but also to explore their possibilities.”

·  In the 2008 SIGGRAPH gallery show (Special Interest Group on graphics and interactive techniques), Mongeon was captivated by the artwork of the legend Erwin Hauer. Hauer worked with Enrique Rosada to recreate Hauer’s looping panels of repeating shapes from the 50s using 3D tech technology.  

Mongeon also uses the disciplines found in her book in her sculpting studio to create commissions and monumental bronzes and consults with other artists to bring their work to life. In 2015, readers followed the creation of the monumental Grambling State Louisiana Tiger through 3D sculpting, scanning, milling, and bronze. In the new edition, they will follow her famous monumental sculpture of the Mad Hatter Tea Party, complete with 150 hidden things placed in honor of the 150th anniversary of the story.

It is not just the artists the author is looking for; it’s also the vendors supporting the artist in pushing the limits. Artists are good at thinking outside the box. Vendors that support these artists end up being collaborators in creating new possibilities.

For consideration of inclusion in the book Mongeon prefers people to tag her on the artwork they see on social media, https://www.instagram.com/bridgettemongeon , https://www.facebook.com/BridgetteMongeonSculptor/ or contact her through her website www.creativesculpture.com .She is excited to hear about those you suggest that she should feature, but does requests that those interested do not send images until chosen; please send only links to online photos. 

The new edition of “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling” should be out in 2025/26; the previous edition is still available on Amazon.

# For more information on this press release please contact the artist