My AUTODESK - ARTIST IN RESIDENCY at INSTRUCTABLES

How has your artist residency at Autodesk been going? What is your favorite part?

As an invited artist in residency at Autodesk, I have a grasp on both incredible software and pre-released features within an amazing production facility. My favorite parts is that it feels like a big candy store where you can develop whatever you always wanted to create but never had the time, tools, or programs for. Inventions and work methods that we develop over a short amount of time will stay with us forever.

- make magazine article on my residency at AutoDesk / Instructables

And yes - it has been AMAZING, AMAZING amounts of experiments, AMAZING amounts of people, AMAZING tools, an AMAZING workshop, at one of the BEST locations that San Francisco has to offer: at the Embarcadero // Pier in San Francisco, overlooking the Bay Bridge!

It's nerd's safe haven and builders heaven <3

During my 3 month residency I worked on how to getting struck by lightning, made a first attempt to create a fluid-dynamic sample within computer generated design with the Autodesk Bio/Nano/Programmable Matter (BNPM) Group and Aaron Berliner that ended up in London's V&A museum, and another experiment closing in fluids within 3D printing, did experiments creating 3D printed textile structures, scanned and modelled heels, build circuits, defined interactions, collaborated with fellow Artist in Residency's Aaron Porterfield and Andreas Bastian amongst other incredible talented designers, got close friends with San Francisco's biggest indoor bouldering hall DOGPATCH in between taking breaks, and enjoyed a big portion of research with long-time collaborator Matt Pinner running around in San Francisco.

I took this opportunity do a lot of 3D printing on Objet 3D Printers (Model 500 Connex) - high quality machines that you normally not that often have an direct access to. Gabe Patin was of great help here - learning us the base of machine usage and helping us out to figure out everything that is needed to run, operate and service one of these 7 babies. Sometimes I had 3 or more of them running at night, to wake up in the morning with happy results and/or failure to be learned from;

As fellow artist in residency Scott Kildall always says:

"If it breaks, it means it's bad design"

REALLY IMPORTANT is to take be territorial and take FULL ownership of your desk.

I did this by radical placing images and drawings of one of my hero's: German philosopher, professor, physician, naturalist, biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel (February 16, 1834 – August 9, 1919) to who's 2D drawings I like to reference into 3D a lot.

OWNING YOUR DESK is a REALLY important part of your residency!

For real.

I tried machinery that I have never used, and never would think of using that quickly within my discipline, but still did try - because it's FUN to see what possibilities arise if you DO d the things that you would never expected to! For example, these are some of the machines I never thought of using, that I actually did create pieces on the body with!

* Omax Waterjet Model: 60120
* Arctec Eva 3D Scanner Handheld 3D Scanner
* SawStop Tablesaw Model ICS 73480
* DoAll Vertical Bandsaw Model 2013-V
* Cold Saw Model CPO 350
* DoAll Horizontal Bandsaw Model 400S
* Powermatic belt/disc combo sander Model 31A
* Millermatic 252 Mig Welder Model 951006
* Miller Dynasty 350 Tig Welder Model 951402
* Centroform Vacuum Forming Machine Model SV 1217

& more. Oh god and more.... <3

Like most artists in residency at AutoDesk, after the second week you are TOTALLY overwhelmed by all taken CLASSES, awesome WORKSHOPS, holy-shit MACHINERY, and nop notch AUTODESK CREW who is amazingly helpful with pushing you even further out of reality. This is the point that you scrape yourself together and think WHAT AM I EXACTLY DOING?.... And you make your plan.

Go to GABE'S CAD NIGHTS every Tuesday from 19.00 on at AutoDesk Pier 9 (Instructables area, above) to learn new programs, as Gabe curate's this event weekly in order to have acces to learning coding, 3D modelling, scanning, amongst other skill sets and program / software reviews.

Go to DESIGN NIGHTS at AUTODESK GALLERY [one market]
on every FIRST THURSDAY of every month (alike Explratorium)

Go to EXPLORATORIUM AFTER DARK on the FIRST THURSDAY of every month

Go to NIGHTLIFE at the CalAcademy EVERY THURSDAY EVENING 6-10pm

Very hard, normally being alone in your studio, or hacking away in your hotel room, now having the access to a lot of FUN PEOPLE, that especially were even more CRAZY during Pier 9's TREMENDRESS TUESDAYS!

This event is every FIRST TUESDAY of the month,
and contains dress-ups, glitter, chalk markers and LOVE.

At night, you have the Pier 9 facilities to yourself. You. The Facilities. Alone. In the dark. Until you turn on the lights and turn the place into anything you can imagine...

With the right permissions, you can watch your prints articulate - you can punch away at a masterpiece with the moonlight crawling across the bay and the bridge and through the massive windows and onto your work. You can turn Pier 9 into anything you want. And if you’re as lucky as me, you will spend at least one night sheathing the woodshop in plastic wrap and preparing to test a piece of 3D printed second skin that leaks ink...

My instructables on "HOW TO GET FASHIONABLY STRUCK BY LIGHTNING!"
My instructables on "Which MICROCONTROLLER to choose for your ELECTRONIC FASHION"

+ more upcoming!

Gave a 40min presentation to Pier 9 at the end of my residency;
to share my findings, show off my projects ...and to THANK all lovelies <3

You ARE missed.