John James Marshall thesis.pdf - OpenAIR @ RGU - Robert Gordon ...

Ambassadors’ (1533) out of the picture plane into physical space. Lazzarini
begins with a familiar object, from which he makes a digital scan and subjects
the resulting mesh to dimensional distortions - he then creates a master model
through rapid prototyping which forms the basis for casting the final sculptures.
In the case of ‘Skulls’ this is in Polyester resin and bone meal.
Figure 9: ‘Ajna Series’ (detail), 1998-2000. Michael Rees
Michael Rees’ ‘Ajna Spine’ series (Figure 9) of 3D computer-generated collages
of body parts from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data reference both the
physical and metaphysical. ‘Ajna’ is the sixth chakra, or energy point that is
usually referred to as the ‘third eye’. These works look like strange anatomical
models. In these works Rees also questions notions of craftsmanship and
authorship by digitally applying the mark of his hand in the form of scanned
palm prints to these objects. However, Rees is not just reinserting the evidence
of haptic, craft-based skills but is also referencing palmistry by using a specific
region of the hand used in divination. For the ‘BitStreams’ exhibition Rees
presented these objects on stacked tables. As well as giving small, fragile objects
a sense of presence this can be seen as playing with the traditional discourse of
‘the base’ running throughout Modern sculpture 13 . It can also be seen as
referencing taxonomical structures (classification tables). Michael Rees is the
only artist involved in both the artist-led activities (‘Intersculpt’, ‘Telesculpture’,
and the ‘International Rapid Prototyping Sculpture Exhibition’) discussed above
and these museum shows.
These artists have made physical and in Kalpakjian’s case virtual objects that
seek to re-examine object making using computer-based tools. These works
13 Since Rodin took his sculpture off of them and Brancusi made his sculptures out of them.
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