Projects

Rochus Urban Hinkel

Decorative Arts in the Digital Age

Exhibition of Archetypes, Cyber Crafts and Collectibles

1 July – 23 July 2022

Craftship and arts, design and fabrication have shifted dramatically in the Digital Age. From New Materials, Avatars, Crypto Currencies, GANs, Metaverse, and Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs), to Lidar Scanning, Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR), and Additive Manufacturing – all are expressions of the potentials of 21st century’s digital technologies and platforms. These technologies are used in ways which leave us in awe and astound at the same time. They also enable the creation of bespoke artifacts and explicit archetypes, enabling parallel and alternate realities, imaging and curating other versions and interpretations of our world.

The exhibition Doppelgänger and Zombies presents new artworks that are created based on 3D scans of masterpieces from David Roche’s 18th and 19th century collection of decorative arts objects. The works are based on processes that critically and artistically explore and test the promises and potentials as well as the limitations and handicaps of digital technologies. Exquisite physical and digital artifacts are developed and fabricated, using 3D scanning and printing, CNC milling, 360 degrees photography, photogrammetry, digital modeling, rendering and image manipulation software, algorithms as well as augmented and virtual reality.

Doppelgänger and Zombies presents a collection of physical and digital artworks of surprisingly playful, highly crafted artworks, based on the application of cutting-edge digital technologies for their fabrication. Concepts and meanings are developed through an investigative and associative approach, using story-telling and the staggering of ideas that enrich the works and help develop their meanings.

Dr Rochus Urban Hinkel is Associate Professor at the Melbourne School of Design, and Co-Director of the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication (ADD+F) research group at The University of Melbourne. Doppelgänger and Zombies is funded through The SIDA, UNISA and The David Roche Foundation Research Fellowship in Interior Design and Decoration and the second exhibition during the two year Fellowship (2020-2022). The exhibition is accompanied by tours and artist talks, presentations of the processes and a limited edition of physical and digital collectables, including NFTs, that will be auctioned onsite and online.

11 November – 16 December 2021

The Doppelgänger is an investigation into the potentials and promises as well as the limitations and specificities of digital technologies in design. David Roche Foundation’s Fermoy House and its collection of decorative arts has been the site of investigation. The house and parts of its collection have been documented through video recordings, 360º photography, and 3D scans – creating digital copies of the Foundation’s collection and spaces.

The Doppelgänger exhibition presents digital copies of four selected items in the collection. By experimenting with alterations of original artefacts ‘uncanny’ new characters emerge. The series of new characters is called Fabulations. Each artwork makes specific reference to mystical fables, creating another layer of associations. Their new aesthetic forms offer novel perspectives, create alternative realities, and enable explorations of new forms of representation.

The exhibition in Fermoy House presents original videos displayed on digital screens. Using their own handheld devices, like smartphones, visitors can also view and access digital copies of the artefacts in Augmented Reality. The artworks presented are developed by Rochus Urban Hinkel in collaboration with Melissa Iraheta.

The Doppelgänger exhibition is one of two exhibitions presented during the duration of the Fellowship – it is accompanied by a series of online conversations.

Fermoy House (digital diagram), click image to enlarge

The Music Lesson (digital rendering), click image to enlarge

CONVERSATIONS

The Doppelgänger Conversations

Join Dr. Rochus Hinkel (UniSA, SIDA Foundation and TDRF Research Fellow) and Geraldine Kihirri Barlow, Head of International Art for the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane on Youtube. Dr Rochus Hinkel and Geraldine Barlow will discuss contemporary examples of Doppelgänger and the role of the original and the copy in contemporary art practice. What are contemporary examples of art works using the concept of Doppelgänger? Is the copy a modern invention in the art world or are there historical examples?

This second in a series of conversations with Dr. Hinkel develops the intellectual, historical and conceptual framework for the research project into the role and potential of decorative arts in the digital age. The conversations allow for reflections, provocations and discussion concerning topics related to the concept of the doppelgänger, challenges and limitations of digital fabrication, the potential of digital storytelling, and questions concerning digital archives and conservation.

About the speakers…

Dr. Rochus Hinkel is the recipient of the UniSA, SIDA Foundation and TDRF Curatorial Research Fellowship in Interior Design and Decoration for 2020-22. He is Associate Professor for Architecture and Design at the University of Melbourne and co-director of the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication Research Hub ADD+F at the Melbourne School of Design.

Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow is Head of International Art for the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane and has an extensive experience in curating and managing major art exhibitions and events in Australia and overseas.

Speculations on the Original and the Copy

Tune in to hear a conversation between Dr. Rochus Hinkel (UniSA, SIDA Foundation and TDRF Research Fellow) and Esther Anatolitis, Melbourne. Dr Hinkel and Esther discuss philosophical concepts and social phenomena around the questions of ownership, authenticity, as well as concepts of identity, appropriation and difference. Can copies become more relevant than originals? Is a copy an original work? Who defines what is an original and what is a copy?

About the speakers…

Dr. Rochus Hinkel is the recipient of the UniSA, SIDA Foundation and TDRF Curatorial Research Fellowship in Interior Design and Decoration for 2020-22. He is Associate Professor for Architecture and Design at the University of Melbourne.

Esther Anatolitis is an arts advocate, Deputy Chair of the Contemporary Arts Precincts, and Honorary Associate Professor at RMIT University, School of Art, Melbourne.

The team behind The Doppelgänger

Dr Rochus Urban Hinkel is Associate Professor for Architecture and Design and Co-director of the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication (ADD+F) research hub at the Melbourne School of Design at The University of Melbourne. Rochus’s research and practice focuses on digital and analogue realities (AR/VR/XR) which he explores through artistic experimentations, spatial installations and immersive environments for cultural storytelling, exhibitions and museums, archives and heritage.

Team
Research Fellow and project lead: Dr Rochus Urban Hinkel
Associate Professor at the Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne

Research Assistant: Melissa Irahetta

Production:
Digital Fabrication Lab and New Experimental Technologies Lab,
Maker Spaces at the Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne

Development and modelling: Melissa Irahetta

CNC Milling: Mitchell Ransome

Visualizations and animations: Melisa Irahetta

3D Printing: Darcy Zelenko, Christina Bricknell, Sean Taaffe

Graphic design, NFTs and video production: Edward Yee

Sound compositions: Sydney Miller

Exhibition design and diagrams: Emilie Evans

External partners:

3D printing: Objectives3D

Photo production: Prism Imaging

Art Courier: Artwork Transport

Flocking: Flock Finishers Australia

Doppelgängers and Zombies have been fabricated to large parts within the Melbourne School of Design’s Digital Fabrication Lab and New Experimental Technologies Lab, at the MSD Maker Spaces.