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Ars Post Faber: Embedding Creative Agency in Computational Systems

The Context

Digital fabrication technologies have transformed design and production processes, while perpetuating the historical division between conception and execution that emerged during industrialization. This separation, which relegated artisanship to a diminished status by fragmenting its holistic creative processes, continues to manifest itself in current design and fabrication contexts that prioritize computational precision over tacit knowledge.

While craftspeople historically maintained intimate connections with materials and embedded their knowledge throughout the making process, current workflows often reduce creation to geometry itself, failing to preserve the embodied knowledge and decision-making central to craft traditions. This fragmentation of what should be a holistic making process raises the question: How might current digital representation formats preserve creative agency, embodied knowledge, and capacity for personal expression in digital fabrication contexts?

The Approach

This research proposes that the democratization of fabrication extends beyond mere access to scaled-down industrial tools, requiring a fundamental reimagining of the relationship between maker, material, and technology. While digital fabrication has become more accessible, its democratization must also address the fragmentation inherent in conventional CAD/CAM workflows that separate conception from execution.

Ars Post Faber

This study develops Ars Post Faber, an open-source Grasshopper plug-in within the Rhinoceros CAD software that approaches making as a holistic practice. The plug-in implements a set of utilities designed to facilitate Human-Software-Machine interactions, enabling embodied expression, contextual adaptation, and tacit knowledge to flow throughout the entirety of the making process.

Rather than abstracting away the creative journey, this approach preserves the complete narrative of creation including modifications, errors, and decision points.

Work in Progress (WIP)

This plugin is currently a work in progress and is not yet published. Please note the following:

  • Testing status: Only tested on macOS (M2 Pro MacBook Pro)
  • Windows compatibility: Not yet tested or verified
  • Installation: The only way to test it right now is to clone the repository and build it yourself

Visit the GitHub repository to access the source code and build instructions.