Douglas Coupland and Simons create 3-D printing art project

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      Quebec-based fashion retailer Simons and popular Canadian novelist and artist Douglas Coupland have launched a new crowdsourced art project titled 3DCanada.

      Between 2015 and 2017, the famed artist will visit seven cities across the country to scan Canadians at various Simons locations. The scans will subsequently be put through 3-D printers to create three-dimensional busts of participants for them to take home.

      This weekend at Simons Park Royal (2002 Park Royal S) on Saturday and Sunday (November 14 and 15) between 12 and 4:30 p.m., up to 100 people will have the chance to get scanned and meet Coupland himself. The 3-D busts are printed on site and will be about 5 cm tall, and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

      “What do we look like now and where are we going with technology?” said Coupland in a press statement. “3DCanada will present a glimpse of what a group portrait can look like in the 21st century.”

      The final project will be unveiled at the future Yorkdale Simons store in Toronto in 2019—a sculpture made up of hundreds of 3-D printed busts.

      The CEO of Simons, Peter Simons, told the Straight that he hopes the final art piece will reflect the diversity of people all over the country.

      “All the conditions are in place so that it’s going to be a generous piece, a creative piece, and people really want it to mean something,” said Simons. “It’ll be great… I’m excited.”

      That being said, even Simons doesn’t know what the end result of the Coupland art project will look like because the artist hasn’t given much detail away.

      “It’s a surprise… it is part of the art process,” he added.

       Take a look at our gallery for a peek at the art initiative. 

      Follow Tammy Kwan on Twitter @ch0c0tam.

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