Studio 19

IMAGING - A Museum Made Digital

Ben Waters

This studio is available to students enrolled in ABPL90142 Studio C, ABPL90143 Studio D, and ABPL90115 Studio E.

Studio Description

‘IMAGING - A Museum Made Digital’ is a research and design unit that introduces students to new approaches to the design of exhibition and archive spaces for cultural heritage within a museum context. Students will develop advanced skills in digital design processes, curatorial practices and virtual reality whilst working in partnership with the Ian Potter Museum of Art. The initial phase of the studio will be focused on developing knowledge and skills in image capture technology, specifically 3D scanning and photography, as well as research in contemporary modes of exhibition and storage of cultural collections. Students will engage with a digital archive of 3D scanned artefacts from the museum’s classics and archaeology collection and develop curatorial strategies for public engagement with the Museum collection. Using the scan data, students will explore design methods relating to the concept of “virtuality” whilst developing skills in digital processes such as VR/AR, 3D printing, digital fabrication and image making. The studio will conduct a series of site visits to art institution storage facilities and produce analytical drawings and images of this spatial type.

Studio Outcome

The propositional phase of the semester will include students designing and curating exhibition, archive and storage spaces of the Museum collection. Each student will be asked to design a space for the combination of storage, preservation, exhibition and archiving of collection material. Projects will include a mix of approaches to contemporary media, including advanced imaging technologies.

Studio Leader

Ben Waters is founder of Siii Projects and principal at OSK Architects. He graduated with a Master of Architecture from RMIT University, and studied at Parsons School of Design, New York. In 2014, Ben was awarded a residency position at Berlin’s Centre for Art and Urbanistics (ZKU), and currently holds a residency at ACMI X Melbourne. He has taught masters design studios at MSD since 2015.

Readings & References

• "Everything is Already an Image" - John May
• "Digital Doppelgangers - Future Scanscapes" - ScanLab
• "Copy Culture" - V&A Museum
• "The Reality of the Virtual" -Slavoj Zizek
• "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" - Walter Benjamin
• Alberti's Media Lab - "Mario Carpo"

Schedule Tuesdays and Wednesdays 09:00-13:30 and Thursdays 14:30-18:30 in MSD Room 240

Contact Handbook Key Dates