Sophie Kahn’s work has long explored technology’s failure to capture the human body. For her series The Divers, she uses a 3D laser scanner that is ill-equipped to capture motion, so when she scans a moving and breathing person the device breaks down, generating layers of overlapping fragments. During a residency at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, New York, Kahn 3D scanned Butoh dancers and performance artists Azumi Oe and Sindy Butz during a live performance. In this model, “The Divers V,” which the artist has used in multiple artworks, two women share a quiet embrace, their gesture tender but ambiguous. The scan has been animated so the various overlapping sweeps fade in and out of translucency, revealing the architecture of the scan along with its fragmentation, and destabilizing the makeup of the image.
For this exhibition, the artist is presenting seven works using this model: a 3D animation, five small 3D printed sculptures, and one 3D printed bas relief. The video, small fragmented sculptures, and larger relief sculpture all give one perspective on the central data which makes up the model — the file is rendered or materialized from multiple angles and in multiple media, but ultimately remains invisible and inaccessible to the viewer’s gaze.
Credits:
Performers: Sindy Butz and Azumi Oe
Houdini animation assistance by Adam Rokhsar
Shapeways Collection: First collectors of this work will receive a corresponding 3D print from Shapeways. Within two weeks of the sale closing, Feral File will contact collectors to input their name, email address, and shipping information to provide to Shapeways for fulfillment. Shipping and printing costs are included in the price of the work. Note that all orders will take 6-8 weeks to deliver. After initial collection, NFTs can continue to be collected on the secondary market without the 3D printed component.
There are five different 3D printed fragments for this work, each an edition of 20. Fragments will be randomly assigned, but if a collector buys multiples you will not get repeated fragments. The fragments are printed in Grey MJF Plastic PA12 at the average size of 18cm x 14cm x 8cm.