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Microscopic handbag sells for $63,000
PRINT ALL READINGS (PDF)Miniaturization - Level 4
Engineers have been miniaturizing things for decades. This trend led to the mobile phone. The latest miniaturized thing is a handbag. It is so tiny it can only be seen through a microscope. The art group MSCHF created the Louis Vuitton-inspired bag. The group said its creation is "smaller than a grain of sea salt and narrow enough to pass through the eye of a needle". It is 657 micrometres wide. It just sold for $63,000.
The neon-green bag was made using high-tech 3D printers that make biotech components. MSCHF used the technology to see how small they could make a bag. The chief creative officer did not ask Louis Vuitton for permission to use its logo on the handbag. He said he would rather ask for forgiveness than for permission. He thought the bag was funny because handbags are usually highly functional, but it is now an item of jewellery.
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11 online activities | 8-page printable (PDF)
Miniaturization - Level 5
Engineers and designers have been miniaturizing things for decades. The trend to manufacture ever smaller products has seen pocket-sized computers and mobile phones. The latest thing to be downsized is a handbag that is so tiny it can only be seen with the help of a microscope. The art group MSCHF has created a microscopic Louis Vuitton-inspired handbag. MSCHF say its creation is "smaller than a grain of sea salt and narrow enough to pass through the eye of a needle". It is 657 by 222 by 700 micrometres. It just sold for $63,750 at an online auction.
The neon-green bag was made using a high-tech technique called two-photon polymerization. This technology uses 3D printers to make mechanical biotech components like microfilters. MSCHF used the technology to see how small they could make a handbag. The chief creative officer said he had not asked Louis Vuitton for permission to use its logo on the handbag. He said he would rather ask for forgiveness than for permission. He thought the bag was funny because it comes from something that is highly functional, but it has become an item of jewellery.
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11 online activities | 8-page printable (PDF)
Miniaturization - Level 6
Miniaturization has been a pursuit of engineers and designers for decades. The trend to manufacture ever smaller products and devices has seen pocket-sized computers, mobile phones and motorbikes the size of a backpack. The latest thing to be downsized is a miniature handbag that is so small it can only be seen with the aid of a microscope. The New York-based art collective MSCHF has created a microscopic Louis Vuitton-inspired handbag. The makers say their creation is "smaller than a grain of sea salt and narrow enough to pass through the eye of a needle". It measures 657 by 222 by 700 micrometres. It has also just been sold for $63,750 at an online auction.
The neon-green miniature was made using a high-tech manufacturing technique called two-photon polymerization. This technology uses 3D printers to make mechanical biotech components and devices like microfilters and micropumps. MSCHF utilized the technology to see how small they could make a handbag. Chief creative officer Kevin Wiesner told the New York Times that he had not asked Louis Vuitton for permission to use its logo on the handbag. He said: "We are big in the 'ask for forgiveness, not permission' school of thought." He added: "I think the bag is a funny object because it derives from something rigorously functional, but it has basically become jewellery."
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25 online activities | 27-page printable | 2-page mini-lesson
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