The third 3D print was produced from the model created using Agisoft Photoscan, this is weirdest of the three models and due to the amount of faces in the original mesh it created much more support material. This support material effectively obscures one side of the head, where the features are lost behind it. The overall texture is very interesting, creating a tactile object that people want to touch and handle.

The sense of otherness is very apparent here and creates a break from the other two models closer resemblance to the human. This can perhaps be seen as a more complete transformation to the object, or it can be the representation of the void between subject and object. An in-between state that is difficult to comprehend with from a human perspective. not quite one and not quite the other. Suspended in one part of the multiverse.

The second 3D print produced was from the 123D Catch iPhone app, this model came out better than I expected with the features still pronounced despite the smoother finish of the 3D render. What was interesting here was the strong support column produced at the back of the print and the relatively small amount of support material around the front of the face, this in effect gave a cleaner print than the 3D scanner version.

It is also interesting to see how the two models look very different, but are both recognisable as objects produced from the same original. Perhaps this is a reflection of the translation from the human to the object? If the translation is fully complete would the human be lost, or do traces of the human linger no matter how complete the process?

After careful planning I was finally able to begin the process to 3D print the 3D models of my head produced the three different processes:

• 123D Catch – iPhone app
• Agisoft Photoscan – Computer software
• 3D Scanner – Equipment

I continued with my previous idea to print them using clear (natural) plastic, in order to see the process of the printing at play and also the play on words with the term “natural” to describe the colour gave an interesting connection to the nature/digital divide that has been the basis of my previous research practice. As the models each have the back part of the shell missing you are also able to see the inside working, how the 3D printer has created support structure and how the layers build up. I chose to print the models on the low quality setting, again so the process of creation is further pronounced in the finished print. The layers create ridges across the surface, instilling their own topology and showcasing the translation again from human > digital object > plastic object.

The first print was that of the 3D scanner, which took 16 hours in total to print.

As a further experiment to create a 3D model of the human I used the 3D scanner available in the AAD workshop space, with the help of technician Kevin Hallsworth we were able to achieve the closest representation as of yet. The process allows you to do several scans of the same thing and then match up points in order the layer all the scans together, filling in missing spaces one scan may have left. The real-time effect of this was interesting as you instantly see the translation from the human to the 3D object, you can also then instantly remove the texture to leave you with the default, creating an otherness that detaches you from the human.

There is also a smaller version of the 3D scanner available, which opened up interesting possibilities for doing live 3D scanning in an exhibition context. Creating an interactive element and the ability to allow people to see inside my processes.

Here is the texture file, again flattening out of the human gives a weird effect where the distortion changes your perception of it:

In conducting the previous experiment, it reminded me of my previous work in Human < > Object and the transformation of the human to functional objects. The bisected head when placed on its side resembled that of a bowl, by placing objects within this it now transforms the function of the head into that of furniture. Altering the properties of the human further and replacing them with those of an object.

Short experiments following on from the creation of my 3D head, taking the 3D render and further distorting its own topological space. The initial act of reducing a human to an object can itself be seen as the distortion to the human topological space, it is deformed (or de-formed) into an object. However those elements that are preserved form the link between the two states. These experiments look to further de-form that object, by bisecting it you again change its space.

Taking only half the head further takes the object away from its pre-recognised state as a human. This also creates an interesting optical illusion when the head is then rotated, the brain makes up for the missing information and contours the inside of the face to make it look like another outside. As if the head is a complete object.

This is, however, a failed experiment. Topology only can be deformed by stretching, bending etc, anything that preserve the original space. By bisecting into the object this experiment has gone against that and created an entirely new object.

In order to re-try the process of using Photoscan this time I created a 3D version of my head. This time the experiment worked and the resulting model successfully captured my head and translated it into a 3D space. This further gave the impression of the reduction of the human to an object and how that object weirds the human, you can recognise aspects of it but you no longer have a connection to it. Also once the object is put into a 3D programme such as Blender, it created it’s own virtual space. This virtual space allows that object to exist in a new context, carving out a new environment the human couldn’t exist within otherwise. The notion of space is interesting and not something I had considered previously, the space around an object has as much impact on it as the object itself. Equally the space around the human can have the same impact.

This opens up avenues to consider:

• Negative space
• Virtual space/ real space
• Topology [- concerned with the properties of space that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching and bending, but not tearing or gluing. Important topological properties include connectedness and compactness.]

Also along with digital/virtual space, perhaps this could lead to explorations of objects/humans/space within the Oculus Rift.

Unwrapped texture: