For Immediate Release: March 25, 2016
Contact: Susan Strano, Marketing Director
802-447-1571
sstrano@benningtonmuseum.org
3D Digital: Here and Now
Bennington Makes – the World Takes!
Who knew that the quintessential New England town of Bennington, VT was a hub of digital design and technology? Over the last fifteen years, there has been a profound transformation taking place in the way things are made, all across the world, and here in Bennington too. Artists, including Jon Isherwood, Willard Boepple, and Karolina Kawiaka have been exploiting the potential of new technologies to push material practice, while commercial design and manufacturing firms such Nahanco, Plasan NA, and Kaman Composites have been making products ranging from clothes hangers to cancer treatment beds all used quite literally around the world. Explore the unique works on view in 3D Digital: Here and Now, March 26 through June 15 at the Bennington Museum.
Heather Dewey-Hagborg, a 2003 graduate of Bennington College, created masks for her project entitled Stranger Visions. Each unique mask is created from discarded DNA found in the streets and subways of New York. Using custom software and a 3D printer, she creates unsettling, lifelike portraits of anonymous strangers from the evidence left behind. Taking technology in a different direction is Karolina Kawiaka, an instructor of architectural design and sustainable design, drawing and digital drawing at Dartmouth College for almost 20 years. Translating topography into 3D modeling software, her sink entitled “Land where I was born” is based upon a topographic map of a valley in Westminster West, Vermont, including beaver ponds, where Kawiaka was born. It is milled from a laminated block of Vermont maple with a CNC router and hand finished.
“I’m excited about this winter’s show as I have been about no other. And it’s going to be a show like no other at Bennington Museum, bringing together art, design, technology, and manufacturing. These are all things that Bennington has been famous for over the years, but usually not brought together in one exhibition.” states Robert Wolterstorff, executive director of the Bennington Museum.
In collaboration, Bennington College and Bennington Museum are putting local innovation on view with the goal of inspiring more young entrepreneurs to put down roots in Bennington, and advance economic development in the region. 3D Digital Here and Now is on view from March 26 through June 15. This exhibition is supported by Abacus Automation and Global Z, both of Bennington.
Related Event: April 1 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. Join us as we celebrate 3D Digital: Here and Now. Live Music with Eric Despard Group; Unexpected Cuisine from Wild Oats; Cash Bar by Kevin’s Sports Pub and Restaurant. Make your reservation now by call 802-447-1571. $40 for museum members/$50 for not-yet-members. Free Babysitting.
Images:
Before We Knew, 2007
Jon Ishewood (b. 1960)
Champlain marble (CNC milled), 11 x 52 x 12 inches
Courtesy of the artist
Presidential Medallion, 2014
Jon Isherwood (b. 1960) and John Umphlett (b. 1974)
Acrylic (designed with CAD, laser cut, and thermoformed)
Courtesy of Bennington College
Topographic Sink – “Land where I was born,” 2009
Karolina Kawiaka (b. 1966)
Vermont maple (designed with CAD and CNC milled), 24 x 224 x 3.5 inches
Courtesy of the artist
Z® Chair, designed and manufactured 2002
Designed by Giovanni Pagnotta (b. 1964)
Manufactured by Vermont Composites, Bennington, Vermont
Solid carbon fiber with natural carbon finished
Courtesy of the designer
Stranger Visions, 2012-2013
NYC Sample 4, 1/3
Heather Dewey-Hagborg (b. 1982)
Found genetic materials, custom software, SLS (selective laser sintering) color 3D prints, documentation
Courtesy of the artist