mymodernmet.com: As part of its Open Access initiative, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has published more than 100 high-definition 3D scans of art historical objects. These models have been carefully curated from the museum’s collection, which encompasses some 1.5 million works across media such as sculpture, painting, textiles, jewelry, calligraphy, and more.
9 comments:
I am so excited that the Met is taking this initiative to create more access to art because a big thing that I believe in is that art should not just be available to the people who can afford it and the people who can afford to pay hundreds and thousands and millions of dollars to experience art. Art, good art Is a living, breathing entity that is meant to be shared. I feel like art Is in a way it's own language, and I feel it's the clearest language and translation of emotion that we have in today's modern day. And as we get deeper and deeper into our phones and we have less face-to-face communication. Our emotions and ability to indicate those emotions become harder and harder and art is such an important way to express those emotions and there shouldn't be a price on sharing yours and witnessing other others emotions. So I am very excited to see this new upgrade, a new accessibility that is opening the arts more.
I have a very strong interest in immersive technologies and also in design for museums to this is a super interesting article to me. I think one of the most promising features of technology and specifically VR/AR is how it can increase accessibility. The Met is controversial in many ways. We’re harboring so many artifacts that were acquired through colonization, violence, looting, etc. Open Access initiatives can help remedy some (a very small portion) of that by increasing the world’s access to these artifacts. VR/AR documentation of these objects also preserves their memory and can help archaeologists and art historians research and restore these artifacts. We have the technology available to show these pieces of history to anyone around the world who wants to see it, why wouldn’t we? Obviously, people should still come to the physical museum, but the Met has so many attendees every year, they don’t have the problem of people not wanting to come. Open Access should always be the goal.
I love a good open access initiative. One of my favorite websites for any art references is an open access site by the Smithsonian, which includes an unimaginable number of scanned works from the museum’s archives. I cannot even imagine the amount of work that went into making this digital archive, with every single piece having a title and artist if available. This labeling system makes it super easy to search for any time period or art style you are looking for. The Met’s initiative definitely seems like a much more in-depth look at all of the included art, with there literally being a 3D scan of them! This feel similar, or at least a step in the direction of, this VR experience I did in like kindergarten. I remember we got these headsets for a day and were able to interact with a 3D rendering of a tornado, and literally go inside of it. In the same vein, the 3D renderings of art could be a cool application in classrooms to get students to interact with the art.
This is so cool for so many reasons! I have not been to the Met yet, so it was really cool to see a small portion of their collection! I find this so interesting because it is such a different experience than you would get when visiting a museum in person. When visiting these massive museums like The British Museum, Louvre, and the Met, I get so overwhelmed. They are always flooded with tourists and have too many pieces to appreciate in one visit. On top of that, the lighting in the displays is not always ideal. I feel like there is always some sort of reflection that obscures your view, and the glass itself prevents you from seeing details close up. It is those details that make the art pieces so special to me, I love seeing the artist in their work. This is such a cool initiative for preservation and accessibility!
What I found most interesting about this is how much it focuses on access. Making high quality 3D scans available online feels like a big step toward making art more open to people who cannot physically visit museums like the Met. I think that matters a lot, especially since museums can feel exclusive or overwhelming in person. I also found the level of detail in these scans really interesting. Being able to see textures like brushstrokes or the surface of sculptures up close is something you usually cannot do in a gallery. In some ways, this kind of technology might even let people notice things they would miss in real life. At the same time, I do not think it replaces seeing art in person. There is still something important about scale and physical presence. It feels like a really positive use of technology that makes art more accessible while also preserving it.
I think this is a great experience that the Met has created. I went to the Met about a month ago and really enjoyed admiring the art works. Unfortunately I was in a time crunch and the museum closed so I was unable to look at everything I wanted to. I feel like this will allow people who have been unable to go or those who had a similar situation to myself to be able to really appreciate the art that’s in that museum. Art is supposed to be admired so I do hope that other museums have done this or plan to start 3D scanning their art pieces. Not only are people able to admire the art pieces but maybe even students studying art and trying to become artists themselves would be able to learn from having access to the Met’s collection. Based on the images, the scans are really well done and it seems no details were left out.
Go open access! Go the Met! I love to see that major museums are trying to become more accessible to people who can’t make the trip to go see them due to time, money, location, etc. As a person who has been to the Met but hasn’t had the opportunity to explore the entire thing — the Met is giant — this is such a cool resource for those who are both Art History enthusiasts and just regular old people. This is also is a really cool restoration and documentation activity. Especially in a world where things deteriorate and need to be restored way more often than they used to due to all of the lights and chemicals and stuff that just exist in this space, this is an awesome way to make these pieces permanent digitally. I care a lot about art restoration, and I think its a really interesting thing to study, and I think this is the final form of making art permanent for years to come.
I love this idea. It makes art more accessible. While it is not the same as seeing the art pieces in person, this at least makes it so more people who might not have the chance to see any of these art pieces in person to still be able to see the little details that cannot be shown in a typical 2D picture of the piece. I appreciate how the Met uses their money to expand and make their art more accessible to the public instead of just using it to make the place a more “exclusive” experience. Their Open Access initiative is one that I have been following and have appreciated immensely. To now be able to zoom in and look at the intricate 3D details of an art piece makes me incredibly happy. Some of my favorite pieces have been used in this initiative and I cannot wait to explore more art through it.
I've said this previously but theres something unbelievably sad about these virtual experiences. Like why would I ever want to experience something virtually when I could go to it in person. There was another article a few weeks ago about a virtual nature experience and for me that was the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Why would I not just go there. You can't experience something virtually thats meant to be experienced outside. These companies need to stop embracing the virtual reality and augmented reality mindsets. I don't want to goto a part in vr I want to go there in real life, and feel things and experience things. Sure accessibility, make the park more accessible. If I couldn't walk you know what would make me feel worse? Having to wear a vr headset so I can go outside again. This whole thing is sad. It's not a good thing and people shouldn't be pretending that it is.
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