Ultra Corpus (Turbo setosus), 2026

Ultra Corpus turns the natural process of biological growth into a technological process. At the center of the work is a small snail shell, which is digitally scanned and then extended through 3D printing into a much larger form. Mounted on a metal base, the sculpture rotates quickly, creating the illusion that the shell is continuously growing.

The project begins with real snail shells. Their spirals record the way the shells formed and grew. These forms are captured through 3D scanning and translated into an algorithm that continues their growth digitally. The resulting form is then produced as a 3D ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) print and coated with graphite. The original shell is preserved as part of the sculpture and makes up around five per cent of its total volume. The other 95 per cent is based on the computer-generated continuation of its growth.

The rotation of the sculpture highlights the contrast between natural growth and its technological reproduction. The metal makes the calculated form permanent, while the movement makes the spiral appear to keep developing. The viewer sees a form that seems to grow endlessly, even though the physical sculpture itself does not change size.

The individual works are titled Ultra Corpus, followed by the name of the snail species they come from. Together, they explore an idea that also appears in attempts to technologically extend the human body: that the principles underlying biological life might be separated from their original context and reproduced through another material or technology.

The work weighs 15 kg (33 lbs)