John Biehler is used to being on the cutting edge of technology, having written the go-to how-to book on 3D printing, but being at the forefront of Canadian contemporary art is somewhat of a surprise to the Port Coquitlam resident.
Biehler has spent the last year collaborating with well known artist Douglas Coupland on his latest piece, 3DCanada, which was commissioned by the fashion retailer Simons, and traveling across Canada as the team works to compile an "image" of Canada — one that is assembled from some 1,500 3D busts of everyday Canadians from Quebec to B.C.
It's an idea that evolved after the two met about a year ago after they struck up a conversation on Twitter; Biehler had been to see Coupland's latest exhibit, Gumhead, and asked the artist what he thought about someone with a 3D printer being able to replicate his artwork.
"He messaged me and I went to his studio and we spent about six hours nerding out," Biehler said. "It was really cool for me."
The two talked about 3D printing technology and its capabilities and Coupland immediately purchased much of the same gear that Biehler owns and started experimenting, often with his friends.
"He has a bowl on the kitchen table full of these 3D printed busts…but they're all famous people," Biehler said. "Every time someone would come to the studio he did a 3D printed bust."
When Simons commissioned Coupland for a signature piece of art for their Yorkdale location in Toronto he contacted Biehler, who spent the next three months hammering out numbers.
The 3DCanada project started this summer at Simons' original store in Quebec City, but despite months of research and planning Biehler admits to some opening-day jitters.
"We didn't know how it would go," he said, and whether the ideas and numbers would translate once they were set up in the store. "Would it be really popular or would there just be crickets? It exceeded all our expectations. We had to turn away hundreds of people."
At each location window displays were outfitted with a row of 3D printers at work; shoppers could see a piece being built and check out the progress at the end of their shopping trip. Inside, Biehler was ready with a special iPad attachment to photograph a participant sitting on a stool.
The data was used to print a small 3D bust of the shopper — many at the recent Park Royal event in West Vancouver were keen to scoop one up as a Christmas ornament — and will be used by Coupland for the larger piece.
Exactly what the sculpture will look like, however, isn't yet decided.
In a release, Coupland said 3DCanada will be "a cross-country portrait of Canadians 150 years into nationhood," but Biehler said some unexpected themes emerged as they travelled across Canada, including regional similarities in the way people looked and the seasonal differences in how participants were dressed, and Coupland will wait until all the data is compiled before settling on how it will be assembled.
Whatever the result, Biehler is glad to be using his tech-savvy skills to be part of the artistic process on 3DCanada as well as other projects with Coupland and other artists.
"It's one of the coolest things I've ever worked on," he said. "I'm using my skills to do something so different than I've done before. Doug and I collaborated quite closely on how we were capturing and printing the scans, so overall the result really feels like a collaboration.
"It's spawned a whole other path I hadn't really expected."
• Future 3DCanada scanning events are in Ontario and Alberta in fall 2016 and spring 2017. The finished piece is expected to be unveiled in 2019 and will tour Simons stores across the country.
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