MAKE: Among MAKE readers, we’re nearly unanimous in agreeing that the rise of digital fabrication is a complete game-changer for crafters, hackers, and tinkerers of all stripes. Laser cutters, CNC mills, and 3D printers have altered the way we think about design, and raised the bar for quality and precision in our work. I’m a passionate adopter of these technologies, but am also wary of the cultural shift they represent as they become more ubiquitous.I was talking to a friend about this recently, voicing my disappointment in so many talented colleagues of ours who stay strictly within software, afraid to pick up tools with which they could alternatively realize their creations. His response surprised me: “I’m more comfortable with a Wacom and Photoshop. I grew up with computers and I can’t imagine creating with anything else. I think digital fabrication is the future and I want to be a part of it.”
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Can DigiFab and Manual Craftsmanship Co-Exist?
MAKE: Among MAKE readers, we’re nearly unanimous in agreeing that the rise of digital fabrication is a complete game-changer for crafters, hackers, and tinkerers of all stripes. Laser cutters, CNC mills, and 3D printers have altered the way we think about design, and raised the bar for quality and precision in our work. I’m a passionate adopter of these technologies, but am also wary of the cultural shift they represent as they become more ubiquitous.I was talking to a friend about this recently, voicing my disappointment in so many talented colleagues of ours who stay strictly within software, afraid to pick up tools with which they could alternatively realize their creations. His response surprised me: “I’m more comfortable with a Wacom and Photoshop. I grew up with computers and I can’t imagine creating with anything else. I think digital fabrication is the future and I want to be a part of it.”
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4 comments:
This is a really good point. I know that at CMU Drama it is somewhat problem that students have the use of a laser cutter but once they get out of school they will most likely not have one or access to one because of the expense. At school the students are supposed to be learning the skills that they need for the real world like cutting things from mate board. By having this type of tool allows people to do things in much more detail and working with materials that they would not normally work in. I think that this is both a good thing and bad thing, this allows them to do more things but does not allow them to do work that they can cut by hand.
I think both skill sets are complimentary to each other. There are certain projects that where one skill set is more applicable (you wouldn't 3d print kitchen cabinets.) And there are some jobs where the technology can pick up the slack of the hand tools (when you need accuracy but don't have the time.) There is a danger here, though, when one of these skill sets becomes the only one someone knows. I'm thinking particularly about digifab. The manual craftsmen will undertand how the technology can assist their projects but when someone only knows the digital, they become limited to only thinking about the tools they have, limiting the jobs they can do.
I tend to agree with this author. I think that having a traditional base in anything extremely important. so many of the things that we've built machines to do quickly for us are based around old-school processes.
Personally, I love technology. I even have a tablet for my computer so I can draw in image editing software. However, nothing can compare to the feeling of actually drawing on actual paper. It might be more inconvenient to draw a picture, scan it, and trace it in photoshop, but I'm much more likely to do that just because I prefer it.
On the other hand, it is undeniable that technology can do things that just wouldn't be practical, or possible otherwise. I think what's most important as an artist or craftsperson is to be able to evaluate each project and choose whatever method is the most effective.
I think there is room for both of these to coexist. There are some cool projects that come from purely digital fabrication, but there is also a very interesting and complex world of parts that start in digital fabrication but then are further refined by manual processes. Lots of model parts and low-grade machine parts are built first by FDM or laser cutting or similar, but are then dressed, assembled and adjusted by hand. I hope that digital fabrication becomes a part of creating better parts and even blanks, but I don't think that fabrication as we know it is going away.
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