Future Biometrics by Jillian Weise, a 3D Printed Broadside

thingiverse

Human beings continue creating innovative art, as evident in Jillian Weise's poem "Future Biometrics," initially released in March 2015 by the Poetry Foundation and showcased here on a 3D printed broadside. This poem has been beautifully translated into braille by Sean Tikkun and cleverly transformed into modular forms by Tom Burtonwood. Visit the Poetry Foundation blog to learn more about this project, as well as Jillian Weise's website at http://www.jillianweise.com and Sean Tikkun's site at http://seantikkun.net. The inspiration behind this art project began with a conversation between Jillian Weise and Fred Sasaki from the Poetry Foundation. The two discussed the potential of creating a 3D printed broadside using braille during a visit to Jillian's studio at the Art Institute of Chicago in summer 2014. At that time, she had recently published "Folium," her second 3D printed book featuring braille page numbers and corresponding braille descriptions for 3D scanned bas relief works from the AIC collection. "Folium" and "Future Biometrics" are shared via Thingiverse. For "Folium," Jillian used an OpenSCAD braille generator designed by Sean Tikkun to create the braille elements. As they had previously discussed collaborating, this project seemed like a perfect fit for them to work together again. Sean translated Jillian's poem "Future Biometrics" into braille and sent her the STL files, which she then used in Rhino 3D to design the modules. Initially, she wrapped the braille dots around a DNA double helix form but decided against it as it did not convey the fracturing and trauma present in the poem. Next, she created an angular, Vorticist object with braille along both sides. The final version featured each line of the poem as an individual module connected by a popcorn joint embedded in the left side of each piece. This allowed for easy access to the braille while conveying anxiety and complexity. Each set of two modules was designed with different extrusion profiles, making it possible to discern the couplets through touch. The right side of each module includes a braille number indicating the order in which they should be connected. Assembly Instructions The "Future Biometrics" modules are ready for printing on an FFF machine. Print each module at 0.2mm layer height, 3 shells and 10-15% infill for best results. Printing without rafts or support material is recommended. A zip file containing the original braille STL files generated by Sean Tikkun is included for those interested in producing their own 3D printable braille dots. OpenSCAD can be downloaded at http://openscad.org and Sean's generator at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:74358. For a detailed look at the Rhino 3D file used to create this piece, visit https://www.dropbox.com/s/0pzwch54wojy8t8/future-biometrics.3dm?dl=0