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Nus Salomo: Innovating contemporary art with 3D printing
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Medical art: Nus Salomo designed this set of 3D printed synthetic gastronomic organs for surgical training. (Courtesy of Nus Salomo) (Personal archive/Nus Salomo)
D
em>Digital technology has opened the door for contemporary artists to offer greater value to society, especially in 3D printed art. Jakarta-based sculptor and multimedia artist Nus Salomo is pioneering design innovations into new and exciting fields.
Nus Salomo, born in 1968 in Medan, North Sumatra, first gained national renown in 2017, when he contributed a futuristic aviation-themed sculpture using synthetic 3D printed components. The unique and imaginative artwork was installed in the arrival hall of the new Terminal 3 Ultimate at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. However, it was later dismantled in response to the negative publicity from social media comments over the supposedly Christian references in the work.
Nevertheless, his creativity and imagination that year led to significant design breakthroughs for the nation.
“I began a pilot project with a pharmaceutical company, making synthetic organs for surgical training. I was next commissioned to develop a 'phantom' containing [synthetic] body parts for medical school students, nurses and doctors to practice stomach surgery and procedures by hand, not digitally,” Nus, whose name has become established in the world of Indonesian contemporary art, told The Jakarta Post.
“One of the challenges was to create body parts [that were] true to form inside the body, not the shape [they have] after the organs are removed from a corpse. Finding the correct formula of materials to reproduce the texture of the body parts was also problematic,” he said. “During the pandemic, I have continued to develop a set of lungs for specific [COVID-19] research.”
