Makerbot at SXSW: 3D printers will empower us to make things and power a creative renaissance
By Alison Ray
It’s really all the fault of an accountant called Luke de Clifford.
Through a weird series of events, he is indirectly responsible for the fact that I am not staying in the downtown Hilton – arguably the best location in Austin for SXSW. The location that that allows for 10 minute dashes to sessions, carrying only the bare minimum with you, and the all important between sessions nap. This nap becomes more critical if you have come from Australia, and spent 28 out of the last 40 hours in transit to get here.
This brings me to the first thing I learnt at SXSW – stay downtown. As close to the action as you can get. I am not staying downtown, and having been here for a whole day it’s already an issue. The shuttle is unreliable, I’m carrying 7 kilos of machinery and chargers in my handbag (yes, I was too cool to bring a backpack. Another mistake), and there is no opportunity to go home before heading out for the night.
I could continue to moan about what has gone wrong, airport dashes, the converter I left on the kitchen table, the rain in Austin, and the fact that everyone eats burritos for breakfast. But at the end of the day I’m at SXSW, so life can’t be that bad.
I’m a planner, literally and figuratively. I had all my sessions mapped out and synced to my iPhone, with a printed hardcopy as backup. I’d read all the tips for SXSW that told me to go with the flow, that plans are made to be broken – and assured myself that I would be the exception to this rule. Until the first session that is. After accidentally joining a queue of people, I ended up in the opening keynote. Instead of the newbies meet up 3 hotels over I’d planned to be at.
Bre Pettis, CEO of Makerbot and SXSW attendee since 2006, talked about the the next industrial revolution – 3D printers that will empower us all to make things. He believes this will power a creative renaissance, stating ‘It’s never been easier to make and share designs’. The implications for his work is limitless, from the production of affordable prosthetic limbs for children in third world countries, through to changing consumption habits via the ability to make unavailable parts for older coffee machines at home. Although this is not new technology, the accessibility for everyone – the ease, the speed and the cost is revolutionary. This technology has the ability to replace centuries of mass production with a new localised approach to making things, which will fundamentally alter the global supply chain and change the way business interact with consumers.
My second session saw me return to my planned schedule, with #catvidfest : Is this the end of Art? Yes, that is the name. When a cat video festival is the highest attended, most talked about, highest web traffic and media coverage driver of any exhibition at the renown Walker Arts Center, does it spell the end of high art? Tackling issues such as taking crowd sourced content and putting it into a new context, and bringing an online community offline and into real life, the session was both fun with the interjection of cute cat videos, and raised some questions around what is art that I don’t feel qualified to answer. However, I did agree that the festival did what art should do – engage people, raise questions, create connections, angers and entertain.
With two sessions down, I’m off to Spreadable Media – Value, Meaning and Network Culture. And then a party at the Museum of Weird. I’m fairly sure this is what SXSW is all about.
Alison Ray, planning director at The Brand Agency in Perth, Western Australia, is attending SXSW in Austin and reporting exclusively for Campaign Brief.