Arts Track

This project was concerned with the development of physical sculptures from the motion of an Iaido sword. Iaido is a Japanese traditional martial art concerned with moving a sword and performing a cutting motion at the same time. It is practiced to prepare the swordsman for a surprise attack. All phases of the stroke have to be absolutely flawless to keep the performer alive. From the perspective of Iaido practitioners the performance of Iaido can be regarded as the will to accomplish perfection and finality. This work is concerned with creating a physical sculpture which displays the motions of the Iaido sword during various movement cycles. In order to achieve this, the sword’s movements were captured by using a motion capturing system, processed in a 3D CAD system and printed by means of a 3D printer. Video footage of the project is available at http://vimeo.com/62947874