The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge, England, is the best place to display a range of Mesolithic headdresses from archaeological sites in Yorkshire, England. The headdress is very fragile, too fragile to be transported. However, the museum was able to create the next best: a 3D printed reproduction of artifacts that replaced the originals. It allowed them to show the range of headdresses found at the excavation site and gain a broader understanding of the similarities and differences between the headdresses by recreating them and displaying them in bright positions behind the rope barrier.
Copy the past
The ability of 3D printing to digitize and replicate objects and designs is an innovation that can impact many different industries – including art and history.
Let's face it, when we talk about 3D printing, it's mostly futuristic. However, it can also be a crutch to understand the past and the future. It helps to reproduce artefacts with extreme accuracy and to create what was in the past in the present. In doing so, it helps to educate, preserve and grant access to previous works of art and history.
Scanned artifacts can be copied. Reproductions of artworks may be disposed of in a way that the original object could not have achieved. When a museum's work can be accurately reproduced, it offers a whole new dimension of appreciation. The museum's patrons can feel and hold the object and have an idea of its appearance and function. It adds a whole new way to appreciate the artistry of the object, which will serve education and history well.
Multiple uses
3D printers have many uses in the context of art museums. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, patrons of the museum have the opportunity to reproduce artwork using their own 3D prints.
Museum digital staff don Undeen expanded on the idea. "If you're visiting a museum, it's not hard to make your own model, aside from using a digital camera and a free program called 123D Catch," Udeen wrote on the museum's blog. "In The Met, if you follow the rules, most of our galleries allow photography, and that's not a problem. Simply take a photo of your subject from every angle, load it into a 123D Catch, wait a few minutes, and with the magic of photogrammetry, your favorite museum artwork will shine in full 3D! "
Udeen notes that some serious and focused trial and error may be required before success, but it's a new possibility — thanks to the complexity of 3D printing and digital scanning.
In other applications, 3D printing can be used to help restore ancient artifacts, but adjustments need to be made to encapsulate the full meaning of the work.
At Harvard's Semite Museum, 3-D printers and 3-D scanning software were used to replicate ceramic lions that were broken 3,000 years earlier when the Assyrians attacked the ancient city of Nuzi in Mesopotamia, discovered in modern Iraq.
Ceramic lion from the Mesopotamian city of Nuzi.
Using a process called photo modeling, the Harvard team photographed fragments of sculptures from hundreds of angles in the museum's collection. They use photo modeling to create a 3D rendering of each piece. They stitched these pieces together to form most of the complete 3D model of the original workpiece.
They cross-compare their creations with similar statues from the same location, then create the missing parts using 3D printed parts and foam machined by CNC. Then they were able to reconstruct the sculpture. Although it is not a true original, it can be used as a replica and can be used to admire and educate museum visitors about the vanished ceramic lions and other destroyed objects of the past.
Technology helps reinvigorate the past
When it comes to preserving history, 3D printers help kick off the past. Objects and artefacts that can only be described and described, or that do not appear in physical forms acceptable to the observer, are now possible.
The ability of 3D printing to accurately and efficiently generate scanned objects is influencing art and history in many ways. What we see from digital scanning and 3D printing is still in its infancy for museums. This innovation can bring even more to the whole experience of learning, watching, feeling, and appreciating history and art. The future is helping to move the past forward.
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