Flip-flopping museum objects from physical to digital – and back again. Engaging museum users through 3D scanning, 3D modelling, and 3D printing

Abstract

This article focuses on how 3D technology can support visitors’ engagement with and interpretation of museum objects by offering a movement between physical and digital experiences – a so-called “flip- flopping” process. The article is based on an observation study conducted by the author at an eight day 3D workshop organized by the Danish art museum KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art Aalborg. The museum invited schools and private visitors, children and adults, to 3D scan two sculptures from the museum collection, remix the scans digitally, 3D print the results, and finally share their remixed sculptures online.This was the first workshop of its kind at a Danish museum. The study examines how the 3D workshop, pulling visitors into the digital-physical flip-flop process of observing and remixing, supports deep and engaging acts of interpretation.

Using 3D Printing to Enhance Understanding and Engagement with Young Audiences: Lessons from Workshops in a Museum

“…Neely and Langer () argue that creative engagement can be facilitated in museums by asking visitors to directly manufacture museum content, for example by replicating objects that are unavailable to touch. Building on this, Jakobsen () has similarly argued that the 3D printer, used in a museum context, is a “fascinating technology” that engages visitors and allows them to interpret objects in novel ways (2016, 133). Following these arguments, our research suggests that children can be engaged with objects by materializing cultural‐historic information through a 3D‐driven design process.…”

“…; Bilkstein ; Eisenberg ; Iversen et al. ) and (2) addresses the role of hands‐on participatory technologies in museums (Bearman ; Jakobsen ; Neely and Langer ). The intersection of these fields raises a specific question: does the use of digital fabrication technologies (e.g.…”

“…Museums and heritage institutions have also begun interrogating the use of digital fabrication technologies from various perspectives, especially concerning the potential uses of these technologies for informal learning. Importantly, museum staff and museology researchers have made important contributions to this literature as they have sought, through a variety of cases, to create standards for 3D scanning and printing of objects (Metallo and Rossi ; Solima and Tani ; Jakobsen ; Steinbach ). Some have argued that 3D capture in the museum context is particularly suitable for objects that may be too sensitive to handle, and are thus unable to be displayed, or in cases where touch‐based learning is a paramount concern (Neely and Langer ; Wood and Latham ).…”

Art of the Moment: 3D Scanning, Digital Media and Meaning Through Making

“…Through further research, it is evident that institutions understand this and are in the process of or beginning to digitize their digital media objects and collections in the creation of the "Museum 2.0" where the new museum has a change in curatorial authorship, encouraging "variability," a key quality to new media artworks, and eases the creation and visibility of the artworks (Jakobsen, 2016). Furthermore, these 2.0…”

Measuring Roof Coverings of Vernacular Architecture in Open-Air Museums. A Long-Term Approach for Sustainable Intervention Work

“…A Long-Term Approach for Sustainable Intervention Work better assessments of characteristics such as colors and textures, and lowers the risk of deterioration through manipulation (in the case of textile objects for example), eases the access (both to local researchers and to international ones, by including the scanned objects in online repositories) and, last but not least, expands communication via online exhibitions and virtual tours and educational programs. Museums all over the world embarked on long and sometimes time-costly efforts to render their collection accessible through modern techniques of digital scanning and visualization (Kuzminsky & Gardiner, 2012;Jakobsen, 2016;Haynes, 2018) and besides benefits related to conservation and research, other advantages may arise as seen during the Covid 19 pandemic (Milosz et al, 2022) or in cases of destruction related to natural disasters or warfare.…”