Returning to the Body Through the Machine. Or Is the Machine Already a Body? Recovering visible matter through disconnected wires.

Abstract

In a context marked by digital acceleration and the dematerialization of culture, this article explores the 3D printer as a philosophical and creative artifact that challenges the dichotomies between the virtual and the physical, as well as between craft and mass production. It is argued that the 3D printer is not merely a manufacturing tool, but an active agent in the co-creation of new material forms. This device, through its slow and meticulous process, confronts the logic of information and the consumer economy, emphasizing the value of time. This Machine of Individual Creation (MIC) becomes a symbol of resistance.

In an era of hyperconnectivity, the act of printing a "thing" takes on a subversive meaning; it invites a reconnection with the body and a conscious curation of memory in the digital age. The exploration of the MIC as a contemporary weaving machine proposes an intimate fusion of speculative science, design, and new materialities that aim to soften our technological environments and open the way to new forms of inhabiting our ecosystem.