I saw these action figures pop up on the internet and I had to interview Ed to find out more!
Can you explain the grant you got and why it inspired you to make action figures on a MakerBot?
The Cambridge Center of Adult Education is exploring the idea of producing art in the model of sustainable agriculture. It’s called CSArt. People buy shares in nine artists and recieve 3 pieces per delivery, over a two month period. CSArt encourages artists to think about their work in a small business context. In return, shareholders get access to a wide range of artists at a fair price.
When the grant was announced last June, I had just returned from my visit to the BotCave and was really charged up. I was convinced the MakerBot would be a great tool for artists. It was only a matter of time before I was all-in. The CSArt grant came up at the perfect time. It gave me the opportunity to adapt my work into mass customization without giving up the hands-on aspects of making art. Price barriers makes it hard for people to access original art. This is one of the key ideas in CSArt and in my approach to making art. The low cost of production on the MakerBot makes the end product very accessible. The work I produced is a series, but, not a set of “signed and numbered” reproductions. The MakerBot enabled mass customization as a practical artists’ tool.
What was your process like? Please walk us through it from idea, to design to object. I’m curious about the survey, too.
I used a Thing-O-Maticwith ABP and the beta of Rhino3D on the mac. I assembled and tuned the MakerBot over a five week period, starting in mid-June.My original idea was a model kit, like the tiny anime robot kits from Japan. I learned about design vs print by developing a prototype form, heavily influenced by Kaiju movies of the 60s. I printed a lot of variations and thought about print-to-print variations, what designs work best raftless and efficient post-printing assembly. In the end, I decided to produce the action figures as kits of parts that I would assemble. For this first series, I wanted to ensure the end result met my standards. I also settled on the idea of mechanical men who carry tools and do heavy work. The one exception is a variant inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft, droids and the octopus on Thingiverse (I love the tentacles).I spent June through early July building the ToM, then prototyped until mid August. I did a test run of the final forms on Labor Day and production through the second week of September. I designed and printed accessories during the third week of September, with two days of assembly and packaging at the end. The MakerBot performance was excellent. I couldn’t have been as efficient without the ABP, Print-O-Matic and the memory card.I decided to start the project with an on-line survey to the shareholders. I wanted to introduce myself and get the shareholders involved from the start of the project. Here is a sample question:
If you had to pick, which of the following would be your most prized possession?
(a) magic ring; (b) lucky pliers; (c) a never-miss hammer; (d) a pencil that promotes worldwide literacy.
95% of the shareholders participated and reported they enjoyed the survey. The packaging of the action figures includes a QR code to the survey results.
What are your plans going forward? What’s next?
I’m very excited about more action figures — so many ideas came up during the summer. I want to look at small groups of figures presented in a scene. I’d really like to create another large series and show them as a group.
Thanks Ed! I love the focus on tool carrying action figures. Ed’s put Robot Toy #A up on Thingiverse for your MakerBotting pleasure.
