NYC Artist, Hovnanian, 3D Prints Baby’s Body Parts, Creates the ‘Perfect Baby Showroom’ Installation

We have seen some pretty incredible works of art, that if not for 3D printing, would never have gotten off the ground. As we have mentioned in the past, this new technology, combined with creative thinking is transforming the field of art in a way which we have not seen since the introduction of computer aided drawling and modelling.

One New York City-based artist, by the name of Rachel Lee Hovnanian, is using 3D printing as a way to create an exhibition which can be described as incredibly odd, interesting and thought provoking all at once.

The riveting solo exhibition called ‘Plastic Perfect’ features the following installations: Perfect Baby Showroom, In Loco Parentis, and Foreplay. All three are incredibly unique in their own ways. However, the Perfect Baby Showroom, which utilizes 3D printing, is the one that really stood out for me.

Using a 3D printer, specifically a MakerBot Replicator machine, Hovnanian was able to fabricate life-like baby parts (as in body parts of human babies), and create a showroom of sorts, centered around infants in an atmosphere which looks like a shopping mall store has collided with a futuristic laboratory. The actual parts of the babies in the show room were hand crafted by doll artisans, however. In the installation, numerous babies rest soundly in stainless steel racks, lit with LED lights which are neatly aligned in rows. The walls of the installation are made up entirely of electrical outlets, with cords crisscrossing one another on their way toward the outlets. If this isn’t odd enough for you, each baby’s head rests comfortably on top of bags of puffed cereals.

“Rachel’s hyper-realistic perfect babies are miracles of nature, yet they are also inventory; infants to be loved, yet products to be prized,” states the artists publicist.

Hovnanian, whose work has been featured in publications such as Vogue and The New York Times, certainly has found a way to use 3D printing in a shocking, yet stunning and intriguing installation.

The exhibition will be open from now until October 18th, at the Leila Heller Gallery, located at 568 West 25th Street, in New York City. Let us know if you have seen the exhibition with your own eye.  Hovnanian’s past works can be viewed at her website here. What did you think? Discuss in the 3D Printed Baby Parts forum thread on 3DPB.com.