Conscious digitisation to support the conservation of the V&A's collection of large scale reproductions
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Brighton
Department Name: Doctoral College
Abstract
Advanced digitisation techniques allow the recording of the shape as well as other optical and physical properties of artefacts to a degree of accuracy. As such, techniques such as 3D scanning, photogrammetry, X-rays and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) enable new ways to document artefacts and their conditions. Previous studies indicate that these techniques often result in datasets in which the digitisation method and its limitations are not well documented. In addition, the organisational needs which prompted the digitisation and the impact of those needs on decisions made during digitisation and the processing of the outputs are often missing. This poses problems for the interpretation of the datasets, including their reliability and accuracy. These issues are of major significance to both the scholar or conservator as they support the assessment and interpretation of recorded features and changes.
The Victoria and Albert museum (V&A) intends to incorporate digitisation techniques into its enhanced offering of information about its collections. As such, there is an interest in the development of protocols and techniques which support the conscious digitisation of artefacts. This involves the documentation of decisions, reliability and accuracy of the digitisation process and resulting datasets. A collection of artefacts which is of interest to the conscious digitisation of artefacts is the V&A's collection of large scale reproductions. This is because the collection present challenges including i) their digitisation, due to their scale and difficulty of access; and ii) effectively using the resulting dataset for their study and conservation.
Large scale reproductions at the V&A are mostly produced by casting which was extensively used in the 19th century as a means to disseminate artworks. A remarkable example is the cast of the iconic Trajan's column at the V&A. The original column has stood in the Trajan's Forum, Rome, since its creation in A.D. 113. The 30m high column tells the story of Trajan's campaigns in Dacia (modern Romania) between AD 101-106. Current understanding suggests that the V&A cast was created from another copy commissioned by Napoleon III in 1862. Since its installation at the V&A in 1873, the cast has been exposed to the environmental conditions within the Cast Courts gallery. As a result, panels present extensive corrosion of metal fixings and armatures causing on-going disruption and loss of material from the front surfaces of the panels.
The aim of this project is to integrate advanced digitisation techniques and standards to support the conservation of the V&A's collection of large scale architectural reproductions. This will be achieved by i) developing methods to incorporate advanced imaging and visualisation techniques into the documentation of the collection; ii) documenting evidence of decisions made in the creation of reproductions and datasets; and iii) developing quality indicators that assist the interpretation and visualisation of the artefact under consideration of the dataset's inherent limitations. The research will use the Trajan Column cast to explore the issues mentioned above and to improve the understanding of its manufacturing and its condition including changes in the shape of the artefact due to environmental conditions over the years. Of interest is the fact that there are different reproductions across Europe of the Trajan Column which can potentially be compared to support their cross-study and the understanding of their state of conservation.
The Victoria and Albert museum (V&A) intends to incorporate digitisation techniques into its enhanced offering of information about its collections. As such, there is an interest in the development of protocols and techniques which support the conscious digitisation of artefacts. This involves the documentation of decisions, reliability and accuracy of the digitisation process and resulting datasets. A collection of artefacts which is of interest to the conscious digitisation of artefacts is the V&A's collection of large scale reproductions. This is because the collection present challenges including i) their digitisation, due to their scale and difficulty of access; and ii) effectively using the resulting dataset for their study and conservation.
Large scale reproductions at the V&A are mostly produced by casting which was extensively used in the 19th century as a means to disseminate artworks. A remarkable example is the cast of the iconic Trajan's column at the V&A. The original column has stood in the Trajan's Forum, Rome, since its creation in A.D. 113. The 30m high column tells the story of Trajan's campaigns in Dacia (modern Romania) between AD 101-106. Current understanding suggests that the V&A cast was created from another copy commissioned by Napoleon III in 1862. Since its installation at the V&A in 1873, the cast has been exposed to the environmental conditions within the Cast Courts gallery. As a result, panels present extensive corrosion of metal fixings and armatures causing on-going disruption and loss of material from the front surfaces of the panels.
The aim of this project is to integrate advanced digitisation techniques and standards to support the conservation of the V&A's collection of large scale architectural reproductions. This will be achieved by i) developing methods to incorporate advanced imaging and visualisation techniques into the documentation of the collection; ii) documenting evidence of decisions made in the creation of reproductions and datasets; and iii) developing quality indicators that assist the interpretation and visualisation of the artefact under consideration of the dataset's inherent limitations. The research will use the Trajan Column cast to explore the issues mentioned above and to improve the understanding of its manufacturing and its condition including changes in the shape of the artefact due to environmental conditions over the years. Of interest is the fact that there are different reproductions across Europe of the Trajan Column which can potentially be compared to support their cross-study and the understanding of their state of conservation.
Planned Impact
1. Academic beneficiaries: The CDT will develop scientific and engineering excellence in the domain of cultural heritage scientific and engineering research and more fundamentally in the enabling domains of imaging and sensing, visualisation, modelling, computational analysis and digital technology. While the CDT focusses on the complex materials and environments of the arts, heritage and archaeology, it will be broadly influential due to the range of novel methods and approaches to be developed in collaboration with the Diamond Light Source and the National Physical Laboratory. The establishment of a student and alumni-managed 'Heritage Science Research Network', will enable CDT's cross-disciplinarity to bridge EPSRC subject boundaries impacting scholarly research in the arts and humanities and social sciences.
2. Heritage beneficiaries: The CDT will have a transformational effect on public heritage institutions by dovetailing 'Data creation', 'Data to knowledge' and 'Knowledge to enterprise' research strands. The resulting advances in understanding, interpretation, conservation, presentation, management, communication, visualisation of heritage, and improved visitor participation and engagement will lead to significantly improved public service and value creation in this sector. This will sustainably boost the cultural heritage tourism sector which requires significant heritage science capacity to maintain the UK's cultural assets, i.e. museum, library, archive and gallery collections and historic buildings. 15 globally leading heritage Partner institutions (both national and international) will contribute to dissemination through established and new heritage networks e.g. the EU Heritage Portal (http://www.heritageportal.eu/).
3. Industry, particularly three crucial sectors: (i) sensors and instrumentation, which underpin a wide range of industrial activity despite the small size (UK Sales £3Bn), and are a key enabling technology for successful economic growth: 70% of the revenues of FTSE 100 companies (sales of £120Bn) are in sectors that are highly dependent on instrumentation; (ii) creative industries, increasingly vital to the UK with 2M employees in creative jobs and the sector contributing £60Bn a year (7.3%) to the UK economy. Over the past decade, the creative sector has grown at twice the rate of the economy as a whole; (iii) heritage tourism sector contributing £7.4Bn p.a. to the UK economy and supporting 466,000 equivalent jobs. Without the CDT, this crucially important economy sector will experience an unsustainable loss of capacity. The impact will be achieved in collaboration with our Partners: Electronics, Sensors, Photonics KTN, TIGA and Qi3, a technology commercialisation, business development and knowledge transfer company.
4. Public: The intensive public engagement activities are built into CDT including dissemination and engagement events at heritage institutions, popular science conferences and fora, e.g. Cheltenham Science Festival, European Science Open Forum and British Science Festival, as well as events organised by the HEIs' Beacon projects (e.g. UCL Bright Club). Cross-cohort encouragement to engage in these events will realise the substantial potential for the CDT to popularise science and engineering. More widely, visitors and users of heritage will benefit from the development of new and more engaging presentation tools, and pervasive and mobile computing.
5. Policy: SEAHA will engage with policy makers, by contributing evidence to policies and research agendas (the PI is actively involved in the EU JPI Cultural Heritage and Global Change, in which she advised on the development of the EU Cultural Heritage Research Agenda endorsed on 22/03/2013) and develop policy briefings for governmental and parliamentary bodies. The CDT is also a strategically important development of the AHRC/EPSRC Science and Heritage Programme ensuring continued global UK leadership in the SEAHA domain.
2. Heritage beneficiaries: The CDT will have a transformational effect on public heritage institutions by dovetailing 'Data creation', 'Data to knowledge' and 'Knowledge to enterprise' research strands. The resulting advances in understanding, interpretation, conservation, presentation, management, communication, visualisation of heritage, and improved visitor participation and engagement will lead to significantly improved public service and value creation in this sector. This will sustainably boost the cultural heritage tourism sector which requires significant heritage science capacity to maintain the UK's cultural assets, i.e. museum, library, archive and gallery collections and historic buildings. 15 globally leading heritage Partner institutions (both national and international) will contribute to dissemination through established and new heritage networks e.g. the EU Heritage Portal (http://www.heritageportal.eu/).
3. Industry, particularly three crucial sectors: (i) sensors and instrumentation, which underpin a wide range of industrial activity despite the small size (UK Sales £3Bn), and are a key enabling technology for successful economic growth: 70% of the revenues of FTSE 100 companies (sales of £120Bn) are in sectors that are highly dependent on instrumentation; (ii) creative industries, increasingly vital to the UK with 2M employees in creative jobs and the sector contributing £60Bn a year (7.3%) to the UK economy. Over the past decade, the creative sector has grown at twice the rate of the economy as a whole; (iii) heritage tourism sector contributing £7.4Bn p.a. to the UK economy and supporting 466,000 equivalent jobs. Without the CDT, this crucially important economy sector will experience an unsustainable loss of capacity. The impact will be achieved in collaboration with our Partners: Electronics, Sensors, Photonics KTN, TIGA and Qi3, a technology commercialisation, business development and knowledge transfer company.
4. Public: The intensive public engagement activities are built into CDT including dissemination and engagement events at heritage institutions, popular science conferences and fora, e.g. Cheltenham Science Festival, European Science Open Forum and British Science Festival, as well as events organised by the HEIs' Beacon projects (e.g. UCL Bright Club). Cross-cohort encouragement to engage in these events will realise the substantial potential for the CDT to popularise science and engineering. More widely, visitors and users of heritage will benefit from the development of new and more engaging presentation tools, and pervasive and mobile computing.
5. Policy: SEAHA will engage with policy makers, by contributing evidence to policies and research agendas (the PI is actively involved in the EU JPI Cultural Heritage and Global Change, in which she advised on the development of the EU Cultural Heritage Research Agenda endorsed on 22/03/2013) and develop policy briefings for governmental and parliamentary bodies. The CDT is also a strategically important development of the AHRC/EPSRC Science and Heritage Programme ensuring continued global UK leadership in the SEAHA domain.
