“Drop In” on the Future with 3D Printsacola and Skater Rodney Mullen
Date Posted: Sep 18, 2019
3D Printing Invites Innovation
First City Art Center, 3DPrintsacola and the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IMHC) are proud to present a new kind of interactive sculpture at this year’s Foo Foo Festival with legendary pro skater Rodney Mullen! IHMC and First City Art Center (FCAC) are collaborating on this innovative project using visual arts, 3D design concepts and 3D printing techniques to create an expansive, interactive structure along with live-action 3D printing demonstrations on a large and small scale at 3DPrintsacola.
A New Kind of Skulpture on Display
The future will be on display for skaters, art lovers, and Foo Fooers alike because you’ve never seen anything like this before. IHMC and FCAC have been working on innovative methods to create their “skulptures,” 3D-printed, skateable concrete structures, that they’ll showcase at the festival. Designed by FCAC’s Creative Scientist, David Fries and “The Godfather of Modern Street Skating,” Rodney Mullen, the skulptures are like nothing you’ve ever seen before and are embedded with augmented reality (AR) that reacts to a skater’s progress throughout the skulpture in real-time. Pensacola skaters will rejoice to hear that this insanely cool skulpture will find its home in the under-construction City of Pensacola Skate Park.
Skating Outside the Box
Rodney Mullen is a world-famous street-style pro skater, entrepreneur, inventor, and public speaker. Widely considered the most influential street skater of all time, Rodney Mullen is the inventor of numerous tricks that you can see skaters still trying to master to this day, like the flatground ollie, kickflip, heelflip, impossible and 360-flip. He won his first world skating championship at 14 and went on to win 35 of 36 freestyle skating contests over the next ten years, resulting in the most dominant competitive run in the history of the sport. Since then, Mullen has developed immense talent in freestyle skating, which is a newer, freeform style of skateboarding.
Fun from the Future
Fans of skating, printing, tech and the arts won’t want to miss a second of the futuristic action at 3DPrintsacola at this year’s Foo Foo Festival. Kids can enjoy a hands-on activity area and experiment with stamps and printmaking techniques. There’s also the chance to learn about IHMC’s Printable STEAM robots, geodesic dome structures that create patterns on paper as they move around. Man and machine combine biodegradable, plant-based plastic filaments with hand-made clay sculptures to create a whole new unique form of art.
3D Printsacola will have one of the most talked-about demonstrations of the entire festival on November 1, 2019, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Get a glimpse of the potential the future holds in a radical demonstration of the capabilities of 3D printing and augmented reality and watch a legendary skateboarder work his magic.
More Details
- 3D printed skateable “skulpture” designed by David Fries/IHMC, Rodney Mullen
- Rodney Mullen will perform a skateboarding demonstration on the “skulptures”
- IHMC’s innovative technology on display – 3D printing in concrete, embedded AR
- Live Music! Hands-on activity area, Art Gallery 1060 open for viewing
- Food Trucks will be on-site, including “Two Birds Street Food” and more!
- Soft drinks, wine, and beer by Pensacola Bay Brewery available for purchase.
Event Ticket Cost Fri. Nov. 1 from 7-9pm: $10 suggested donation at gate, FREE for FCAC members!
Ticketed Pre-Event VIP Reception on Friday, Nov. 1st from 5:30-7:00 p.m.: $40.00 per person includes catered hors d’oeuvres and sushi in Gallery 1060, two (2) drink tickets, AND the opportunity to mingle with Rodney Mullen, IHMC team and FCAC participating artists. Only 40 tickets will be available on Eventbrite, purchase yours starting Oct. 15th!