The Curious World of Patent Models and the Future of Objects

If you enjoyed this past DnA, about oil and plastics, in which Chris Lefteri talked about future materials, you may want to check out an Art Center exhibit that looks at fabrication, past and present. As described by Art Center, “The relationship between technology and its influence over the process of conceptualizing objects, inventions, and innovations is referenced overtly in “The Curious World of Patent Models,” an exhibit of more than fifty scale models representing ideas submitted for United States Patent protection circa 1800-1880. A separate but related exhibit, “The Future of Objects,” displays new digital-age fabrication and prototyping techniques in which startlingly complex forms are conceived and “grown” by machines known as 3D printers.” The show is at the Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery at Art Center College of Design and is part of a continuing “series of explorations into the intersecting domains of art, science, technology, and design.” The complementary exhibits will be on display June 4 to August 15.