By now, you’ve probably at least heard of the concept of 3D printing. Using a sequence of thin layers of various materials, 3D printers create physical objects based on digital, 3D models. Everything from houses to human organs can be 3D printed quickly and efficiently.
Relying on the amazing capabilities of 3D printing, artist, philanthropist, and former actress Portia de Rossi saw an opportunity to bring her vision to life.
The Creation of General Public
Portia de Rossi founded her company, General Public, with the central idea of bringing good art to as many people as possible.
Each painting needed to be reproduced as closely as possible to the original, ensuring that the details of the painting were consistent with the original version, down to the brushstroke and texture.
As an artist and long-time art collector, she realized that great art can only be owned by one person. Wanting everyone to have the opportunity to own and enjoy the art they love, she began focusing on reproducing paintings through 3D printing.
By using this trademarked technology, paintings could be printed quickly and accurately. Most important to de Rossi was accuracy. Each painting needed to be reproduced as closely as possible to the original, ensuring that the details of the painting were consistent with the original version, down to the brushstroke and texture.
General Public’s Motto: “Support artists, not art.”
Another important reason to de Rossi for creating General Public was to give artists, both well-known and up-and-coming, an opportunity to make additional income off of their paintings. By recreating paintings, artists receive royalties off of each sale, rather than just making money off of a single sale.
SYNOGRAPH (TM) Technology
General Public partnered with Fujifilm to create a technology called SYNOGRAPH (TM), which uses a 3D printer to replicate paintings to nearly exact detail, rather than a simple flat painting.
“My goal is that the SYNOGRAPH shakes up the antiquated idea that scarcity is how we should value art. It should be valuable because it’s good, not because it’s rare.” -Portia de Rossi
By using SYNOGRAPH (TM) technology, General Public captures more detail in the ink, reproducing the way the artists painted their original pieces, making the replicas as close to the real thing as possible.
For artists interested in submitting their paintings to General Public, they simply need to email a bio and an image of their painting to General Public’s team of professional advisors. Once the General Public advisors have reviewed the submission, they will make a decision on whether or not to move forward with the submission.
General Public’s Impact on the Printing World
The work that General Public is doing shows yet another creative way to use the power of print.
MORE INKTANK INSPIRATION:
Kaijie Chen stretches the limits of printing and interior design
As 3D printing expands in popularity, so too will its capabilities. The creation of SYNOGRAPH (TM) uses ink in a way that provides nearly identical copies of the original painting, letting the artist’s personal style shine through.
Read more on the creative ways in which ink and art are intertwining.
