Since 1978, Miguel Chevalier has focussed exclusively on computers as an artistic means of expression. He is known internationally as one of the pioneers of virtual and digital art.
He has realized many exhibitions and virtual-reality installations for galleries, museums and public spaces around the world. The sculpture "Janus 2013" is part of his interactive virtual-reality installation "Terra Incognita" 2010 exhibited at MIS in Sao Paulo in Brazil.
3D printing now allows Miguel Chevalier to give material form to his virtual universes, this is a genuine revolution in the world of sculpture.
The two-faced Janus was the Roman god of beginning and end who can gaze into the past and towards the future at the same time. Inspired by ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, "Janus 2013" is here pixelized or "voxelized" (3D pixel). With the 3D printed sculpture, Miguel Chevalier wants to underline the omnipresence of digital art in our society and shows that digital art is in continuity with the history of art since Antiquity.
The execution of this unusual order was done with the large-format VX4000 printer at the voxeljet service center. The powerful industrial printer with the build volume of up to 8 m³ printed the whole sculpture with the dimensions 1000 x 1000 x 820 mm in one piece.
To keep the weight of the piece to a reasonable 120 kg, the artwork was created with a wall thickness of approximately 25 mm and was hollow inside. After printing, the head was filled with epoxy resin. Thanks to the high performance and large capacity of the VX4000, the printing time for the complete sculpture amounted to 40 hours. Chevalier was very pleased with the printing quality and the short delivery time of only two weeks after receipt of the data.
