Reflection on the process of modeling

My first reaction to this experience is that there is something fulfilling about being a part of making an important object more available to a wider audience. Yes, there are some drawbacks to a 3d model, since no matter how good the model is there will still be a piece of it that falls in that uncanny valley of looking almost like the real object, but it will be available to people who can’t make the journey to a given museum, let alone ensure that any physical pieces can be returned to their original homes at any time. In terms of the process of making one of these models, it is interesting to see how differently one has to look at a given object. A lot of our conversation was just how we could position the lights so that the finer details could be easily seen, which I think more easily compares to the process of creating an exhibit rather than going to view one. One of things photogrammetry forced us to pay attention to was the texture, how do we capture it, how do we make sure that an audience can see these details and how this object has reacted to wear and tear. I have never set up a real world exhibit, but I assume that is something museum curators have to put effort into as well. When simply viewing, it is easy to see that it is an impressive piece of art, but unless you take the time to thoroughly analyze it or have studied that particular era or style of art, it is hard to truly understand a given piece. While I cannot claim to understand the Chinese sculpture that my group is going to be modeling, it did make me more interested in learning about it, and it asked me to think about the piece in ways I had never even thought of before.