Every year, in the region of Tobasco Mexico, the residents hold a beauty contest to celebrate their heritage and culture. The pageant showcases 17 contestants, one from each municipality, as they engage in displaying, not just their beauty but also their knowledge of cuisine, dances and fashion over the course of a month and a half. The annual celebration had a new twist in the mix this year: 3D printing.
Zortrax M200
With the help of the Zortrax M200, 3D design studio Ideas Disruptivas set out to capture the image of the contestants in the form of figurines. They printed statues from the images of all the contestants in the pageant, dressed in garb that accentuates the diversity of their culture and representing their respective areas. The figurine collection is known as Collećion de Flor, after the name of the pageant, Flor Tobasco.
How did they do it
The studio prints all 17 figurines out of impressions made from 102 photos in total. After they print the figures, they can still be a bit rough around the edges, so the designers post-process them with Acetone. After this, the artists step in to colour them by hand and add their final touches. To ensure their longevity, the figurines are printed using Z-ULTRAT, one of Zortrax’s flagship materials. The Z-ULTRAT material is very resistant to wear and tear and also has the advantage of being easy to post-process, making it a natural choice for making these types of statuettes.
Ideas Disruptivas and the preservation of Mexican art
As the pageant concluded, all the contestants were given their respective figurines. They were delighted by these gifts prepared by their community through collective ingenuity. Ideas Disruptivas have a long history of using new tech to represent Mexican culture and heritage. They seek to popularise and reintroduce Mexican art in new forms. They also enlist the help of local artists to paint the figurines, thus supporting the local communities.
