2018 has been a true celebration of curiosity and action. The number of Factum Foundation projects has grown exponentially both in terms of recording
December 2018 | Factum Foundation Newsletter
2018 has been a true celebration of curiosity and action. The number of Factum Foundation projects has grown exponentially both in terms of recording and physical output. The most dramatic growth has been in the implementation of a variety of recording systems, from our own specially built technologies to photogrammetry or the LiDAR surveying equipment. The documentation and digitisation of cultural heritage has formed a significant part of the Foundation's intense but fascinating past 12 months.
This variety of projects reflects the importance of technology and the preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage.
It is dependant on many different people, with different skills and different types of understanding. Digital connoisseurship has really come of age and is shaping the most important debates of our time.
Constructing a bridge between new technology and craft skills is at the heart of the mission of the Foundation's sister company Factum Arte, taking an artisanal approach to technology. When it does not exist, Factum designs it, including the operating systems and software required to handle the information. It goes without saying that our efforts are focused on extending the ways we document, archive and relate to the past.
We will send you new announcements throughout 2019.
One of the most significant projects Factum Foundation has been involved in this year: the recording of Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square from 1915, regarded as the most iconic painting of the Russian avant-garde.
This marked a first collaboration with the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow where the famed work is held and to where the Factum team travelled to in March equipped with the Lucida 3D scanner, a laser scanner designed by Manuel Franquelo as a safe non-contact technology for recording fine surface relief. This was employed to capture the delicate craquelure on the surface of Black Square, 1915, as well as the more featureless surface of a 1929 copy produced by Malevich near the end of his life.
In addition, this 3D data can be visualised physically through CNC milling or using Océ elevated printing technologies. The physical re-materialisation of the data facilitates forensic and anlalytic study. Hopefully the data in both digital and physical form will shed light on some of the more obscure questions surrounding the enigmatic Black Square, namely its conception and the artist's original intention.
Transferring skills and the technologies are at the core of Factum Foundation’s mission.
This is achieved in many ways. One example being the work in the town of Al-Ula, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A class of fifteen locals (10 women and 5 men) were taught by one Factum expert how to record the engravings that cover the rocks, in 3D, using a variety of approaches to photogrammetry. This included general views of the canyons to sub-millimetric recordings of the inscriptions. It was a collaborative pilot project between the Factum Foundation, Art Jameel, and the Royal Commission of Al-Ula (RCU).
A more traditional example was the graduate teaching work at Columbia University. Adam Lowe and Carlos Bayod’s Advanced Preservation Technology Studio course at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation is now in its third year - watch the video of the recent fieldwork trip to Casa Pilatos in Seville.
This can also be seen in the aims of ARCHiVe (Analysis and Recording of Cultural Heritage in Venice), a new centre, funded by the Helen Hamlyn Foundation, dedicated to technology and digital preservation. It was launched in September in collaboration with the Fondazione Giorgio Cini and DHLAB-EPFL. Envisioned as a hub where specially designed hardware and software will be applied to the recording and studying of archives. The emphasis is on the practical application of technology, and education and collaborations are being established locally and internationally. During 2019, ARCHiVe will host a variety of training workshops and activities revolving around the gathering, archiving and processing of data.
Work in the field with local communities is a central part of the foundation's philosophy. The focus is on areas where the documentation of at-risk heritage is critical for a variety of reasons ranging from political instability, economic pressures, climate and tourism. This work takes the form of in-depth, hands-on training focused on introducing sustainable new technologies and support structures with the aim of transferring skills and understanding to those with intimate local knowledge. It is also designed to create new forms of employment demonstrating that future economic viability is linked to cultural preservation.
Serious threats to our cultural heritage are often linked to attacks on people’s traditions, memories, identities and religions. The cynical iconoclastic vandalism of the Sacred Cave at Kamakuwaká is a clear example.
In October 2018, Factum Foundation sent a two person team to work with the Wauja indigenous community to fully document this rare example of material cultural heritage in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Regarded as one of the most important sites for the peoples of the Upper Xingu region, the area and its caves are home to the mythical hero Kamukuwaká. In particular, the petroglyphs in the cave of Kamukuwaká are essential to the ancestral legacy and collective memories of the Wauja people. When they arrived at the remote site, they discovered that the main panel of engravings had been brutally attacked by unknown assailants armed with chisels.
3D reconstruction will often never replace a work of art but diverse forms of high-resolution recording can help preserve its relevance and importance to the community. Since we had not recorded the cave before the damage, the digital reconstruction team at Factum Foundation have been working with AIKAX, PPP, anthropologists and Wauja elders to gather all photographs and drawings of the damaged site. Using mapping, photographic and organic modelling software, and merging this with the 3D recording of the site, we will be able to keep the memories that the cave contains alive so they can be passed from one generation to another.
The physical loss is irreparable but the malicious vandalism has been neutralised by the application of human collaboration and technology. The Wauja community will be able to use the physical reconstruction that is now being created to keep passing this knowledge and wisdom to future generations.
Finally, we wish all our supporters and followers a very Happy Holidays.
2019 is already looking like it will be a year when our technologies and philosophy grow exponentially.
