The Whale Pass
Crafted from almost a tonne of 316L stainless steel , realistic portrayals of the behemoths of the sea are making a splash as part of the Animals at Court exhibition in the Royal Gardens in Torino , Italy .
Text & images by MX3D
The Whale Pass aims to increase public awareness of the countless forms of life that inhabit our planet , particularly animals . Paolo Albertelli and Mariagrazia Abbaldo designed the sculptures based on the idea of a passage of whales in an urban park . It is conceived as a land artwork to be placed on a grassy surface that ideally replaces the sea . This artwork consists of three pieces of 316L stainless steel sculpture : a head , fin , and tail with a total weight of 880 kg .
WAAM production The Whale Pass was additively manufactured in stainless steel at the MX3D facility in Amsterdam with a netto deposition rate of 1.5kg per hour . The facility has extensive experience in the WAAM for the complex art and design industry . Both design freedom ( geometry shape and size ) and advanced fabrication ( production flexibility and speed ) were key . WAAM enables faster and more flexible production of large metal artworks and parts with virtually unlimited sizes with little to no pre-manufacturing setup . The three parts were printed using MX3D ’ s largest printing cell in portions as tall as three meters and manually welded together , shaped into one of the biggest artworks fabricated by WAAM . For example , the whale head has an impressive height of nearly five meters . The texture achieved by MX3D ’ s technology resembles the texture of the skin of a real whale which added a new dimension to the project for the artists . Finally , marble was used in the sculpture to represent the whale ’ s stomach and ice , “ as a symbol of a habitat to be respected and defended ,” according to the artist . The balance between the carved marble stone and printed metal alloy adds a unique element to the sculpture .
Smart 3D solutions “ MX3D ’ s robotic 3D metal printing technology provides a smart and digital production solution . It allows for higher form and size flexibility in shapes and textures , higher deposition rate , and reduction of material use and waste , making it highly relevant to achieving sustainable goals of many different industries , companies , and organizations ,” says Gijs van der Velden , CEO at MX3D .
MX3D produces metal components on demand , prototypes , and low-volume production series , or enables you to use this technology in-house yourself . This process allows the creation of geometries with higher complexity than conventional manufacturing processes . By controlling the full WAAM workflow from CAD to print , MX3D ’ s technology has many benefits and allows you to go from idea to finished product in one go with MetalXL and the M1 Metal AM System . “ The installation of the whales is a project that I have always imagined in large parks because it transforms the horizon line with the imaginary depth of what cannot be seen . The backs of the whales resting on the lawn emerge from the earth ,” says Paolo Albertelli , artist at Studio C & C .
12 Stainless Steel World November 2022 www . stainless-steel-world . net