Dear ZBrushers,
I’m trying to find a kind modeler willing to donate
a few hours of ZBrush skill in the name of art 
It’s a cool project for a fairly renowned artist. If
you might be interested, please read on …
Australian performance artist Stelarc has been creating
“transhuman” works since the 70’s. There’s a good
chance you’ve seen shots from one of his performances:
http://images.google.com.au/images?q=stelarc
He’s probably most famous for his “stretched skin”
pieces wherein his body was suspended from steel hooks
pierced through his flesh. But perhaps his augmented
body performances are both less confronting and more
visually striking to people working in CG.
Stelarc visited our lab a couple of days ago in search of
help for his current project (public opening fast approaching).
He’s building a bio-reactor with a clear domed top inside
of which will rest a hydrogel slab that has been CNC
machined to resemble Stelarc’s face. Not just his normal
face though, Stelarc wants it to look like his face has been
transplanted onto the 3.2 million year-old “Lucy” skull.
Upon the surface of this face, a culture of simian cells
will grow to form a new skin, nurtured along by immersion
in the nutrient bath of the bioreactor “life support system.”
It’s a dynamic exhibit, every 5 minutes the bath will recede
to allow gallery visitors to view the growing face.
Like I said, it’s a pretty cool project, and Stelarc has got
it all sorted out and underway except one essential piece -
namely the digital model of the Stelarc/Lucy face (geometry
only, no colour/texture necessary). The tissue people are
clamouring for this so that they can computer machine the
surface upon which the monkey cells will grow. Which is
when Stelarc contacted us asking for help because his other
arrangements fell through. Even the digital model though
is close, but it needs a ZBrush guru to finish it off. Here’s
where we’re at …
We have a cleaned up geometry of Stelarc’s face as an OBJ
file:
http://sf.anu.edu.au/~dee900/Projects/Stelarc/
(Note, ZBrush Preferences|ImportExport iFlipX and
iSwitchYZ for all models.) He wants to unfold this
similar to the attached flatface.jpg image (the inspiration
for the project). That is, the model isn’t to be a normal face,
but cylindrically unwrapped and then pressed onto a
21cm wide x 12cm tall curved slab (I’ve created a sample
slab.obj geometry). The ears should be roughly as located
on the image and sticking up slightly from the slab surface.
With this done, Stelarc then would like to push/pull (this is
where I immediately thought of ZBrush) the face to give
it Lucy-like characteristics. For artistic reference, I’ve
sourced obj files for a human skull/jaw (aligned quite
well with the face data) and lucy skull/jaw.
I’m guessing that it would take an accomplished ZBrush
modeler a few hours spread over a few days, iterating on
the model based on Stelarc’s feedback. I’m not an
accomplished ZBrusher though (as Dirty Harry said,
“a man’s got to know his limitations.”) So, and I’m asking
here on behalf of Stelarc, would anyone be kind enough to
help him out? His project budget has been entirely blown
on the bioreactor. All he can offer is his heartfelt thanks -
and, of course, public acknowledgement for your work.
If there are any takers, please contact me
at [email protected] as soon as possible.
Best Regards,
Darran.
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