Summary

A sculpture that, well, says something about influences. Read the instructions, there I'll explain what was going on in my head a little better.

Instructions

So, many of you may know that we (the Makerbot tribe) spent some time "hacking" the Metropolitan Museum of Art, here in New York.
http://www.thingiverse.com/met

It was really one of the most amazing experiences one could hope for. We were visited by many of the curators who shared their voluminous knowledge with us. We were all inspired, to say the least.

While visiting the Southeast Asian gallery, we were shown one of the earliest examples of Buddhist sculpture. It had an distinctly Hellenistic influence,especially in the way the folds of cloth were rendered. This was a result of Alexander the Great, and the wide range of Greek exploration (as well as conquest, I digress).
As time went on, as we all know, Buddhist sculpture grew and evolved to become beautifully unique.
This led me to think about how now, in the 21st century , we are implementing wonderful technologies (in my case, a Makerbot)into the way we sculpt, and make art in general.
So, this piece is a combination of a Roman marble head*, scanned using 123D Catch, as well as a Lion from the Khmer Empire (Cambodia). I then added certain elements, including gears to express the influence of technology.
The end result is a unique piece that ties together periods of time separated by centuries into something that is both new and ancient.
If you're still reading this, I thank you, this is literally the longest description of a piece I made I have ever written.
Enjoy!
-Jason

*http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24752

Influence