The idea was to generate an everyday object in collaboration with a generative AI system. Using Midjourney with the prompt "A surreal [tea cup, teapot, vase], abject art], I was able to generate some interesting concepts for the objects.

Choosing a vase, I opened up Adobe Substance 3D sampler. Using their automatic image to material textures pipeline, I was able to extract color-map, normal-map and height-map textures.

In Blender, I proceeded to model out the shape of the vase from the side and UV map it to wrap nicely with the concept image (this was the most time consuming part). Next, using the shader-graph, I gave the vase its textures and used a depth map modifier.

Final render in imagined usecase! Now on to the 3D printing.

In order to print the vase in color, an inkjet or polyjet 3D printer was required. Fortunately, the CBA workshop has a Stratasys j55 polyjet 3D printer that I could use. After printing overnight and stirring it in water for an entire day, this was the result.

For the 3D scanning part, using my phone I had a friend take 70 images around me: both close and further away. Then using the software tool Metashape, I was able to generate a 3D mesh.