The work Goblet (on the right) is based on a 3D scan of a kylix (goblet) from Cyprus (950 – 1050 BC) which was scanned in the laboratory of the Department of Computational Archaeology at a very high resolution – much higher than required for design projects. Close to two million points describe this small pot. This scale of resolution was too high for the production tools that were to be used in this project. In addition there were detailed scans of the color and texture of the surface. The tension between the basic technology and the need for millions of items of data emphasize the complexity of a material object, and most of this information comes from the representation of the surface.
Digital design and production enables complex forms but mostly ignores the surface of the digital object which is usually considered a by-product of the process, using standard algorithms aimed at maximum efficiency and minimum deviation from the mathematical ideal of the 3D form. These two issues are the motivation for this project – on one hand there is so much information that only a computer can handle and on the other hand Elran’s interest in the digital surface and the ceramic tradition which focuses attention to the surface. For this project Elran wrote a program that carves into the mold in an unconventional way. CNC “crawls” along the network of the digital scan and leaves stylized traces on the surface that are the result of the geometry of the scan and his personal signature as a digital designer.
Goblet, 3D scan, CNC in mold with a robotic arm, – mold cast ceramic. Also exhibited is the Kylix – a clay bowl on a foot, family of vessels “Drawn on white” 1, Cyprus, Cypro-Geometric Age 1 (950 – 1050 BC)
From the collection of the Archaeology Institute, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
The work “Preliminary Sketches” on the left is a series of images on tiles etched into the ceramic surface with a laser. The laser etching on the ceramic surface creates a unique language whereas the long preparation of the image on the computer that is characterised by its own aesthetic disappears in the final product.
Tiles: Digital planning, laser etching
The Hybrid Laboratory, The School of Engineering and Computer Science, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
