Michael Hansmeyer’s ‘digital grotesque III’ uses artificial intelligence to create a 3D-printed ornamental column.
Michael Hansmeyer creates architectural spaces using programming, machine learning (artificial intelligence), and visual arts in his ‘Digital Grotesque’ series, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. The end result is intricate 3D-printed artworks with distinct geometries and facets. The latest iteration of the post-modern architect’s ‘Digital Grotesque’ series, which he has been working on for the past ten years, was made especially for the BMW Art Club event in Warsaw, which was on display during the first week of October.
The team creates what the artists call “computational architecture” based on purely geometric processes. The most recent installment is divided into two parts: a multimedia installation and an ornamental column. The 360-degree video installation depicts a digital grotto — a cave in which spectators can immerse themselves in a constantly changing space generated by detailed, porous, multi-layered structures — in endless motion. The second component is a 5-meter 3D-printed sand sculpture. This structure is a physical translation of the forms developed by AI algorithms in virtual reality. See our previous articles, ‘Digital Grotesque I’ and ‘Digital Grotesque II,’ here and here.
‘Digital Grotesque III,’ commissioned by BMW (see more here) for its Art Club 2022 event in Warsaw, is a multi-sensory experience that questions the relationship between humans, technology, art, and the world. These intricate objects are made without a specific function in mind, but they serve as ornaments, stimulating emotions and providing a glimpse of what future architecture may look like.
‘To complement the virtual world, the artist is creating an immersive multimedia installation called ‘Digital Grotesque’ and a sculpture inspired by ancient columns for our commission. His signature technique is to use machines and intelligent algorithms to explore and create beauty. ‘His artistic practice is a kind of laboratory for experimenting with the new possibilities that the development of intelligent technologies opens up for us in the fields of shaping space and creating beauty,’ project curator Stach Szabowski explains.
