- The Shapes Project
Six Shapes from "The Shapes Project"Working in 2005-2006, American artist
Allan McCollum designed "The Shapes Project", acombinatorial system to produce unique two-dimensional "shapes ." Thesystem allows for the making of enough unique shapes for every person on the planet to have one of their own. It also allows the shapes to be kept track of in such a way as to ensure that no two will ever be alike. [Smith, Roberta, "The New York Times ", "Allan McCollum, The Shapes Project," (December 15, 2006).]Following the present rate of birth, it is generally estimated that the
world population will grow until it "peaks" sometime during the middle of the present century, and then possibly begin to decline. How many people will be alive at this peak are estimated at between 8 billion and 20 billion people, depending upon what factors are considered and who is doing the considering. The most recent estimate published by theUnited Nations puts the figure at around 9.2 billion in the year2050 . [1950-2050: United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision. Data available on the Web at http://esa.un.org/unpp/]To make certain that the system will be able to accommodate everyone, it has been organized to produce over 31,000,000,000 different shapes, which is more than the highest
population estimates might require.For the time being, around 214,000,000 of the shapes have been set aside for creative experimentation. These can be used for many different purposes—not only for
"Shape", from "The Shapes Project", carved fromCorian , with CNC milling equipment.fine art anddesign projects, but also for various social practices: asgifts ,awards , identity markers,emblems ,insignia s,logos ,toys ,souvenir s,educational games , and so forth.So far, only
home computer s have been used to constructAdobe Illustrator vector graphics files that allow the shapes to be produced in many possible ways. The shapes can be printed graphically assilhouettes or outlines, in any size, color or texture, using all varieties ofgraphics software ; or, the files can be used byrapid prototyping machines and computer-numerically-controlled (CNC ) equipment—such as routers,laser cutter s andwaterjet cutter s—to build, carve, or cut the shapes from wood, plastic, metal, stone, and other materials. [Jana, Reena, [http://artonpaper.com/bi/v11n04/column_mccollum.php "31,000,000,000: A Monoprint for Every Human on Earth] ," "Art on Paper," March, 2007.]The basic system for making the shapes has been completed, but the project of actually constructing all of them is much too large for any one person to finish in any single person's lifetime. For this reason, the project has been organized in such a way that others may continue completing them in the artist's absence. The shapes are also being made available to others, with the hope that people will come up with many interesting ways to use them. [Princenthal, Nancy, " [http://home.att.net/~allanmcnyc/aia/princenthal.html Shape Shifter] ," "
Art in America ", February 2007, pp 106-109]In 2007,
The Museum of Modern Art acquired 432 of the "Shapes" for its permanent collection.Notes
ee also
*
One Billion Silhouettes Project External links
* [http://home.att.net/~amcnet2/album/shapes/144tops.html Information on the Shapes Project]
* [http://home.att.net/~allanmcnyc An informational website on the artist]
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