The art world never stays still.  Now digital and video are the hot new forms of expression.  At the Museum of Arts and Design new exhibition ‘Out of Hand‘, artists explore the hybrid world of the computer and the artist joining together to make pieces.

There’s the microphone you can talk, sing, or whistle into and create a vase-like object on the screen above.  There’s the ‘white space’ to step into to make an object.  I’m wearing a red shirt with a black and white vest.  When I stepped into the zone, a wreath-like donut formed on the overhead screen, melding the three colors.

3-D printer

An organization called Shapeways from Long Island was there today, demonstrating how the make objects using a 3D printer.

She’s on the turning platform

The resulting object

I watched a couple step onto a platform and kiss.  While they held their pose, a huge scanner continually scanned the length of their bodies and the platform slowly turned, so that the scan captured information from each angle.  Over about a seven hour period, a 3D printer will print out a four or five inch tall, full color, plastic version of their kiss. But only if they order it from the website.

Not all the objects take that long to print, which happens in layers, resulting in a solid piece.  This intricate toy with moving pieces could be printed in only thirty minutes and cost only a few bucks.

A toy-thing with moving parts

You can also upload your own design and concept, pick one of 30 materials, including ceramics and metals, and create your own custom object.  They also have a marketplace you can shop.  The Shapeways tag line: “made in the future.”

A man next to me interrupted the young guy explaining the process.  “You know, my dentist uses a 3D printer,” he said.  “He makes the teeth right there, while you wait.”

This may indeed be the future of art… and dentistry.