3D Printing-Two Dudes

I want to share with you my process and how I decided upon a man offering a handshake to a cave-man figure to supplement my essay on Lorine Niedecker’s Darwin poem. Niedecker once said that others would be shocked to learn that she would sit on three lines of poetry for three months (paraphrased). The process was the heart of the art produced to Niedecker. Every choice is deliberate and meaningful. I kept that in mind while working on my customized 3D figure since it made me feel better about all the time I was spending trying every single angle and length and combination of angles, lengths, ratios, widths, and radii. It felt silly and fruitless, but by the end product, I am happy with the choices I’ve made. Here are some screen shots of me exploring the customizer:

My first idea, a sort of 3D rough draft, was to make a man posed as if about to shake hands. I would then have a second figure of a monkey, standing and accepting the handshake. Unfortunately there were not any good monkey templates online that I could find, and a man shaking hands alone or with another man would not send the message I intended. The basis of the inspiration for my figure comes from the last section of the poem:

This quote implies a choice. The word “hope” is very optimistic and freeing. I wanted to show a man free from fear of evolution and Darwinism, embracing the existence of other species regardless of their origins. It doesn’t matter whether that man believes in evolution or not. His belief will not change his action of kindness toward other creatures. Yet on some level, the fact that he is offering a very human gesture, a handshake, to a monkey conveys some inner hope. Perhaps this man has chosen to hope for other species to develop higher intelligence and interact with us with mutual respect. Here is the man with outstretched hand:

After my despair over not finding a suitable monkey to cast, I thought I would change the concept and make a cave man. Pictured here: