FabCafe Tokyo gets ‘bare bones’ with a 3D printing exhibition like no other

From ultra sleek advanced materials to the latest biotechnology, FabCafe Tokyo is no stranger to exploring the unconventional and the cutting-edge. This time, it has collaborated with The Museum on the Street Association to lift the veil on something that is at once intrinsically familiar  to us yet usually unseen: bones. 

A symbol of life and death and an icon of pop design, bones have traditionally been relegated to museum displays or stands. For ‘Shape of Bone’, an exhibition like no other, audiences are able to get up close and personal with skeleton specimens recreated through 3D printing.

FabCafe and The Museum on the Street have designed a museum experience that allows people to tangibly feel and explore the familiar yet distant existence of bones, as they are transformed into various models, sculptures, graphics and even skateboards.

Make no bones about it: this immersive and interactive exhibition seeks to revolutionize the museum experience, taking museums into the future and making them more interesting. 

“More interesting” is precisely the goal behind The Museum on the Street – a new nonprofit organization established by Kento Mori (森 健人) and Kazuki Saito (齋藤 和輝), on May 18, 2020 – coinciding with International Museum Day.

An extension of a ‘street museum’ founded by Mori, who learned 3D modeling techniques as an anatomist and began showcasing 3D printed replicas of museum skeletons, the project now seeks to expand the system by which museums all over Japan make use of specimens and earn money for specimen-making.

Currently The Museum on the Street focuses on photogrammetry, 3D data and XR (AR and VR) exhibitions, as well as taking the exhibition outside the museum – be it online or on the streets.  

The ‘Shape of Bone’ exhibition has also been coupled with online talks, featuring artists and industry experts. 

In ‘Living Things and People’ talk event, Mori was joined by Japanese artist Aki Inomata, who has been creating works centered around the collaboration of living things. They delved into the ways in which the relationship between humans and other living things are changing, under the influence of society and technology.

‘The Hand: Beyond the Experience of Touching’ talk event welcomed the man behind DDD HOTEL and PARCEL gallery, Yuta Takeda (武田 悠太), to explore the design of future experiences, particularly in the context of the museums and tourism industry, both of which were hard-hit by this year’s social distancing. Could museums and hotels ever shift towards the design of experiences as a starting point, rather than a goal or destination? The event was moderated by editor and content maker Soichiro Matsuda (松田 壮一郎).

>>Read the story from FabCafe Barcelona: Can a 3D print of an MRI scan help one man get his face back?

The ‘Shape of Bone’ exhibition is a collaboration between FabCafe Tokyo and The Museum on the Street, and is on at FabCafe Tokyo from July 18 to August 2, 2020.

Crowdfunding Project by The Museum on the Street
Alongside the exhibition, The Museum on the Street has launched a crowdfunding project, selling two original products: a 3D printed replica and an AR postcard. The 3D printed replica is a 3D print of a real specimen from the National Museum of Nature and Science. Meanwhile, the AR postcard is a postcard with a QR code that allows you to summon the same 3D data as a 3D printed replica in real space through the use of augmented reality (AR) technology. You can find out more about the project here.

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