Technology is an important tool, but it’s just a tool.
It can’t replace the human touch.
Shawn Fairall’s job starts with a one-ton
blob of clay and ends with a finely detailed model of a potential new Lincoln.
In between, the former industrial-design major collaborates with designers
during the long process of transforming pencil sketches and “virtual 3-D”
renderings into reality.
In the old days, you’d work on one side of the car until you
were happy with it, but then you had to figure out how to make the mirror
image. Today we scan it, test it virtually, even create the tooling from the
model.
Today we scan it,
test it virtually, even create the tooling from the model.
Michael Frank talked to the sculptor about the role technology
plays in the design studio, the constraint of safety regulations, and judging
an artist by his tools. The first thing you do when you come to work is change
your shoes and pants. It’s a messy job. The clay itself is
very hot—150 degrees Fahrenheit. You have to wear gloves. And it’s
crucial that the in-between layers are heated properly [as you work]. Otherwise,
parts might deform or fall off when the clay cures. The sculptor works with
designers to shape the car as they envision it. The sketch is a gesture of what
the designer is going for, but broad strokes.
A designer might say, “I’m at a loss in this c0rner- can you
help me out?” it’s why we groom it into the third dimension, so we can see how
it looks, how it interacts with light, problems that need solving.
We groom it into
the third dimension, so we can see how it looks, how it interacts with light,
problems that need solving.
There’s a passenger side and a driver side. It gives us an
opportunity to vary the theme. Maybe one side is stiffer, more formal; maybe
the other is sportier. You’re not just interpreting a sketch, you’re working
out ideas. My dream car is a Ferrari P4. The Ford GT40 is up there, too. And
there’s something about old Jags—the long hood, those lines. To do this job,
you have to understand form, to respect not just automotive history but also
product design. That background, those fundamentals, help me come up with
solutions designers are looking for. We’re all facing the same regulations,
which put a constraint on design. But on the highway, I’m looking at fenders,
at headlights, how competitors with the same challenges found solutions. It
may be useful in the future. Making a car look muscular is a real challenge. You
want it to look like Michelangelo’s David, the perception of muscles beneath
the surface, even though it’s carved from marble.
Making a car look
muscular is a real challenge
You can tell a lot about a sculptor by looking at his
tools. As an apprentice, you hand-make your own; you can’t just run down to
Home Depot and buy them.
These are very traditional, old tools - steels, splines,
French curves. I’ve worked with German and Japanese sculptors, and they all
have their own traditions and niches and solutions. We each do this our own
way.
