Take artist Bruce Beasley, whose work is on display at an exhibit in which engineering-software maker Autodesk Inc. promotes the role of technology in design. Since the 1980s, Beasley has crafted large stone and steel sculptures featuring mashed-together geometric objects. The finished products, he says, make meaning out of shapes that have none individually.Beasley originally made his sculptures by assembling cardboard pieces, a process he describes as clumsy and time consuming. Since 1987, he has designed his sculptures using computer-aided design, or CAD, software. At the time, running the software required a MicroVAX, a giant computer about three times the size of a typical personal computer. That process is somewhat easier now using Autodesk’s CAD software, which runs on a standard PC. The software allows him to stretch and combine shapes virtually and see what a sculpture would look like if it was made of steel and not stone, or painted a different color. He can also click a button and see the shadows a sculpture will cast at different times of day.
Beasley also uses a special printer to create three-dimensional plastic models of his designs. He sends these models to China, where craftsmen cut the stone or assemble the steel to his specifications.
But his reliance on technology begs the question: Is he cheating? Beasley says artists have always sought out tools that improve their work and makes them more efficient. “I can deal with a greater degree of complexity than if I was doing it by hand,” he says.
Beasley, who makes 15 to 20 sculptures per year, compares his situation to a juggler who wants to keep five balls in the air but can’t make his hands move fast enough. Because of the software “I can juggle more shapes,” he says.
Other examples of computer-aided designs at the exhibit—at Autodesk’s San Francisco headquarters— include items such as a customized Ford Shelby Cobra with headlights modeled after actor Steve McQueen’s eyes; the architectural plans for a just completed glass-and-wood cathedral in Oakland, Calif.; and a nearly nine-foot dinosaur made out of 62,500 green and blue Legos. Each finished work is accompanied by design specs, photos and videos that show the project in various stages of development.
“We’re able to show off the thought process and the ideas behind the works,” says Carl Bass, Autodesk’s chief executive.
