Massive 3D-Modeled Sculptures Rise Over Columbus Circle (PHOTOS)

Two towering sculptures recently went up at <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/photos-construction-on-6-story-high-living-room-in-columbus-circle-is-almost-up-to-columbus-head/" target="_blank">Columbus Circle</a>, but what most passersby don't realize is that they aren’t just ordinary pieces of art. Created for the <a href="http://madmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Museum of Arts and Design</a>'s “Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital” exhibition, the works by artists <a href="http://www.michaelrees.com/" target="_blank">Michael Rees</a> and <a href="http://www.richarddupont.com/" target="_blank">Richard Dupont</a> are examples of artwork made using 3D technology. The statues offer a teaser of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/marco-mahler-and-henry-segerman-collaborate-to-produce-worlds-first-fully-3d-printed-mobiles/" target="_blank">3D-printed and 3D-scanned pieces</a> on display inside the museum.

The pieces show how technology has influenced the art world and art production, introducing technology alongside the artist’s hand.

For the exhibition, curator Ron Labaco has pulled together a collection of 150 works that use <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/shane-hope-uses-3d-printing-to-synthesize-nano-digital-data-into-intriguing-organic-art/shane-hope-3d-printed-art-3detail/" target="_blank">3D technology</a> for their production or design, including Rees and Dupont, who also have pieces inside the museum.

Rees’ sculpture, which is entitled “Converge: Ghraib Bag,” sits across Broadway in a pedestrian plaza.

The 16 foot piece, which is a cluster of wrestling figures, was entirely created in a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/the-sugar-lab-uses-a-3d-printer-to-create-sweet-edible-geometric-sculptures/" target="_blank">3D modeling program</a>, then milled by a machine. Rather than the historic tradition of an artist carving a sculpture from a block of marble, Rees’ piece takes the modern approach, using a machine to carve a sculpture from a cube of plastic, before adding the artist’s hand finish touches.

Dupont’s “Going Around by Passing Through” appears as an oversize deflated face, placed right in front of the museum’s entrance.

The 15 foot tall piece is actually a self portrait, a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/the-3d-scan-to-print-web-app-turns-any-kinect-into-a-3d-scanner/" target="_blank">digitally scanned mask</a> of Dupont himself, which was then contorted and manipulated before being printed.

The public is welcome to contemplate, touch and photograph each piece, which are also accompanied by QR codes to scan for more information, including an animation by Rees.

The show runs until July 16, 2014.