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Egg-scape
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Scholastic Future New Winners
Clockwise from left: 'Metamorphossis' by Elbert Han, 'Visual Representations of Audio Files' by Eric Voorhis, 'Egg-scape' by TJ Gascho.
3D printing industry leader 3D Systems has announced the winners of the 3D Design prize at the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
The 3D Design award serves to exemplify the Scholastic Awards' 'Future New' category, which inspires young people to use 3D design and 3D printing tools to create art.
The 'Future New' category examines the originality, technical skill and emergence of persona vision through the designs, which are 3D printed and put on display. The winners can choose between a prize of $1,000 in scholarship money or their very own 3D Systems Cube desktop 3D printer.
3D Systems has been a partner of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers - the nonprofit presenter of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards - since 2012, with a joint mission to provide 21st century tools of expression and to challenge today's students and tomorrow's artists, designers, entrepreneurs and leaders to think and create in new, bold directions. 3D Systems provides free access to its consumer design tools for students to create their work in 3D.
Director of Social Impact at 3D Systems Leanne Gluck commented: "This year's award winners are a testament to the art of the possible, with 3D design and printing tools. Together with the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers we are nurturing a new kind of digital literacy with real world implications. Scholastic Art & Writing Award winners give teachers, students and parents reason to be optimistic that these skills are relatively quick to learn and even quicker to implement."
The winners of the 2014 Future New 3D Design Award are:
TJ Gascho, 10th Grade, California
TJ Gascho submitted 'Egg-scape' using the 3D animation program Blender. Egg-scape portrays an egg yolk as a creature trying to escape from the egg whites representing a "human, born into this word in a bad environment, and though it tries to escape, it never can..."
Eric Voorhis, 12th Grade, Florida
Eric Voorhis created 'Visual Representations of Audio Files' by various musical artists using 3D printing software. He converted mp3 music into a visual 2D plane, presenting a final image containing millions of pixels composed into static white noise. His three 3D static blocks represent the complexity of sound as an image.
Elbert Han, 12th Grade, Michigan
Elbert Han designed 'Metamorphosis', a multipurpose accessory that converts from a set of two cufflinks to a cuff bracelet via a system of hinging magnets. The goal of this piece is to create a versatile accessory that could transition from a formal to casual setting, giving the wearer the freedom to sport this accessory regardless of the situation in which they find themselves.
Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, said: "The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were created with a mission to recognise creative teens and show their work to the world, proving they are sophisticated young artists in their own right. The works that students share with us in the Future New category that are designed with free resources provided by 3D Systems are wonderful examples of the innovative thinking that our country needs in future leaders of all industries."
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the longest-running programme for recognising creativity in American children aged between 12 and 17. The Awards are considered prestigious in the US and this year there were more than 255,000 submissions for its 28 categories, including Future New, comic art, video game design and flash fiction, as well as traditional mediums including sculpture and poetry.
