How to make the fragments proved a harder puzzle. The museum reached out to a professor of sculpture at the neighboring Minneapolis College of Art and Design, who could perhaps enlist his students. But there wasn’t enough time. The museum then approached a local 3D printing company, but the quote was quite high. With the exhibition opening in just a few weeks, the illusory fragments remained just that.
Then, in late January, Liu and his family were invited to a Lunar New Year party at the home of Mia patrons Bob and Lee Rucker in Eden Prairie. Liu noticed the many 3D-printed objects in the house, including a life-size violin. All of them had been made by the Ruckers’ son Sammy, a sophomore in high school. Sammy had been experimenting with 3D printing at home, making everything from the violin to children’s toys to a miniature version of a moai — a giant head sculpture — from Rapa Nui. He even built the printer itself.