“In this piece, I chose to highlight the changing role of machines in modern creative practice, and explore mechanical parts as cultural objects.”

Mechanical Orb

2018

Glass sculpture from 3D-printed cast 

Mechanical Orb is a pink glass sculpture made using digital collage, 3D printing, and casting processes. Components from once functional mechanical designs have been developed into an aesthetic object, growing obsolete as they transform into ornamental forms. Delicately layered in the linear style of a 3D print, its bright and youthful colour makes it light-hearted and experimental in its exploration of function.

Gears and cogs are brute symbols of mechanical purpose, which juxtapose the delicate and sophisticated connotations of glass as a decorative medium. The artwork's incongruous combination of digital, automated and handmade processes reflects the absurdity of post-industrial society; the modern organisation of labour which is globally divided and economically uneven. Mechanical Orb highlights these inconsistencies between technology, automation, purpose, and work, both within art and broader industries.