Less occasionally than many artists would like to believe, a piece of art comes along that is each intriguing, culturally and historically significant and ingeniously produced. “The Profilograph” by Chicago artist Pablo Garcia, is one such piece.
Basing his machine on a series of four books written in 1528 by German artist Albrecht Dürer that examine the geometry of the male profile, Garcia transforms a series of Dürer’s drawings into a ‘contiguous 3D extrusion’. The source of the ‘contiguous 3D extrusion’ if you weren’t to know, could easily be mistaken for a misshapen pottery wheel, meaning the hidden art may never be found. But where the historical significance of Dürer comes in, happens when the Profilograph begins rotating. With a single light source, the Profilograph resultant shadow morphs forms unmistakable silhouettes of Dürer’s profiles. In seamless transition. Jekyll to Hyde, Banner to The Hulk, around and around and around.
Whilst this particular piece was designed in 2008 for an exhibition at the University of Michigan, Garcia has many more works, each a triumph of visual ingenuity. Turning 2D drawings into 3D sculptures is just the beginning. For more on the Profilograph, click here.
- How a designer turned Renaissance woodcuts into an amazing high-tech optical illusion (io9.com)
- Tangents of Wisdom – Dürer and Popper (redstateeclectic.typepad.com)