Virtual Plastics: a presentation on November 29th, 2018
VIRTUAL PLASTICS is a collaboration between Special Collections Research Center, Transmedia and the School of Art conceptualized through a series of conversations between Jacob Riddle (faculty of Transmedia and the School of Art) and Courtney Asztalos (Curator of Plastics and Historical Artifacts, SCRC). There will be a talk and students in ARI 300 Digital Fabrication and TRM 351 Transmedia Topics will be presenting their final projects. The goal for the semester was to introduce SCRC’s historical plastics artifacts in conjunction with techniques of 3D scanning, 3D printing, and sculpting in Virtual Reality. This collaboration proposed student learning centered around photogrammetry, a method of 3D scanning used by many museums to document artifacts. This process creates 3D scans for students to use as a starting point for the creation of new virtual sculptures akin to methods of collage art and remixing. SCRC brought about the unique opportunity to integrate artifacts over the course of the semester-long collaboration which inspired students to engage with primary source materials and explore the complex commonalities that overlap with plastics and virtual space.