10 Barnett said he enhanced the process by replacing the wax with creations from the three-dimensional printer, the plastic of which melts at the same temperature as wax. This allows for ultra precise designs that are difficult for human hands to sculpt. “It’s a new way of coming up with tools,” Barnett said. “Every time you give artists a new tool, it never really completely replaces anything else. It just broadens what they’re able to do.” Three-dimensional printers are being used in interior design to create small models of rooms, and a laser cutter is being used in the woodshop to engrave wood, metal, and glass. “It seems like there are always some individuals who, when they see new technology, they’re afraid of it, or they think that it’s going to replace what they do and that they will become obsolete,” Barnett said. “But if you embrace new technology, all of a sudden it opens possibilities that you haven’t seen before.” Craig Hawkins, associate professor of art, said technology has always influenced art. At one time, the invention of the camera was seen as a threat to painters, but over the years photography emerged as an art form in its own right. “Technology can push society to reevaluate our ‘whats’ and our ‘whys,’” he said. “The art world eventually accepted the camera as another tool for creating works of art. I don’t see technology as a threat because of the constant return to questions of purpose and intention it can stir up for those who are paying attention.”