GoKawiilmanual: a book of a single material
Developed by Studio Darius Ou with Benson Chong, Manual is a fully 3D-printed book that carries part of the machine code used to fabricate its own body.
The object arrives with a strange directness. Its pages, binding, and raised marks are produced in one printing sequence, so the book comes off the print bed already formed. There is no separate assembly stage, no later binding process, no applied graphic layer. The marks belong to the same material logic as the pages themselves.
its pages, binding, and raised marks are formed in one continuous printing sequence
studio darius ou explores the book as a replicable object
Darius Ou and Benson Chong use an XY-for-Z 3D-printing method, allowing Manual to materialize in a fully bound state directly from the machine. This means that instead of printing a model layer-by-layer from bottom to top, the printhead moves vertically and horizontally to print the object sideways. Thus, it’s built up as a sequence of layers, yet it behaves as a familiar artifact: a book that can be held, opened, and read through its surfaces.
The raised text printed across its pages is partial G-code, the instruction language used by the printer. In this sense, Manual carries a fragment of its own making within its body. It treats the page as both surface and construction record, giving the reader access to the object’s fabrication through touch as much as sight.
raised G code on the pages records part of the instructions used to fabricate the book
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