“The Manufacturing of Artifacts: Low Barrier to Entry Methodologies in Digital Manufacturing” by Trempe Jr.
Conference:
Type(s):
Title:
- The Manufacturing of Artifacts: Low Barrier to Entry Methodologies in Digital Manufacturing
Session/Category Title:
- Educator's Forum
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Abstract:
The proliferation of consumer-based mobile phone LiDAR scanners/cameras and DYI 3D printers has lowered the entry barriers towards integrating digital workflows into a foundations studio art curriculum. From citizen scientists scanning coastlines with LiDAR-based mobile phone apps to the integration of 3D-printing into primary and secondary school STEM pedagogies, todays university students are more accustomed to and accepting of, these technologies as part of everyday life. Can this acceptance be leveraged toward the integration of digital thinking into studio art curriculums that often eschew technology due to perceived costs and learning curves?
This abstract demonstrates an exercise and results that exploit a low barrier to entry methodology by introducing photogrammetry, mesh editing, and 3D printing into a studio arts-based curriculum, making visual the influence and impact of each process on the final construct. During a two-week workshop for bachelor-level university students, experiments in scanning, photogrammetry, and 3D modeling/editing are integrated into a design pipeline exploring ceramic slip-casting. Using mobile phones, readily available scanning/photogrammetry software, basic modeling software, and off-the-shelf 3D printers, students first capture an archeological fragment (photogrammetry), next format the fragment for 3D printing (digital model manipulation and editing), 3D print the fragment (contouring), before casting a negative mold from plaster before making the final positive cast through slip-casting. The resulting products bear the moniker “artifact” as each product “wears” the influence and characteristic of every process in the design pipeline, including the student’s understanding and mastery of each process.
