Facsimiles: originality as a process | Carlos Bayod | TEDxMadrid

This talk is a TEDx event, organized independently to the TED conferences.

Facsimiles and questions on objectivity play an essential role in the work of Factum Arte. Most of the projects from this multi-disciplinary studio are aimed at showing how new technologies can develop a central role preserving our cultural heritage, and how it is possible to change our aptitude regarding the use of the digital data (virtual and physical) to protect and to manage cultural objects. A good example would be recently the facsimile of the funerary Tomb of Tutankhamun, an exact copy of the original building, at the entry of the Kings Valley. The main aim of these artworks would be show the originality like a dynamic process rather than a fix state.

Let's start with two pictures

taken in the tomb of Tutankhamen

maybe one of the most visited
monuments in the world.

The first picture was taken
at the time of its discovery in 1922.

The second is a more recent one from 2012.

There's a 90 years-span between them.

And there is something else.

There are more
than 3,000 years between them

as one of the pictures
was taken in the original tomb

whereas the other one was taken in Madrid,

and represents the facsimile we created
in order to preserve the original.

We work on facsimiles.

What is a facsimile?

It is an exact copy of an artwork
aimed at preserving the original.

We are beyond negative connotations,

like fakes or false reproductions.

Nothing to do with our work.

We usually create a facsimile

whose purpose is to add value
to the original work of art.

Most of the time, we start

by digitally scanning
the surface of the object.

Such as this Mappa Mundi
at Hereford Cathedral, in England.

A medieval Mappa Mundi.

The aim is to contact-free
high-resolution document

the surface of an object,

and provide a 3D-model file
which faithfully records

the features of the object
at a certain moment in time.

Our interest is to gather data about
the object's both surface and texture.

When texture is properly documented,

a lot of data is revealed
about the object's biography.

What do we do when the current
available technology is not enough?

We develop our own systems.

Lucida 3D scanner was specifically created

to accurately record
the texture of works of art

like paintings or low reliefs
which may initially seem flat,

but that can provide valuable data
on their texture and low reliefs.

Nevertheless, our goal is not
to build a visual file or model,

something people usually understand
as new technologies.

We go a step further, as we focus

on taking the qualities of those objects
back into the material world.

In our job, the gathered raw digital data
always returns to the material world.

Every work of art such as sculptures
or paintings can be turned in facsimiles.

If we want to create a good facsimile

the ratio color-low reliefs
must be the right one.

The photographic color and 3D data

are mapped back into different formats,

preserving all of the qualities
of the original.

We will see some examples of this.

What do we do when a work of art isn't to
be found in its original context anymore?

For example, "The wedding at Cana",

one of the most important
paintings by Veronese.

It was created for
The San Giorgio Monastery, in Venice,

but it is no longer there.

It was stolen by Napoleon, moved to Paris,

and in permanent display
since then at the Museum of Louvre,

on the same hall as "The Mona Lisa".

It is presented to the public
removed from its original context.

Our job was to create
an accurate facsimile

that was to replace
its original in Venice.

But how do you go about scanning
a more than 70 m2 work of art

without removing it from its location?

It was impossible to use
any supporting structure

or any additional illumination.

We developed a non-contact,
scanning system

mounted on a telescopic mast,
which scanned the whole painting

illuminating only those
essential areas for each shot.

Additionally, others conventional
photography systems were used

and hundreds of color samples were taken.

Once all this data was processed,

a digital impression on canvas was made,

prepared and treated as the original one.

A plain multilayer color printer was used

which printed successive layers
with a perfect register,

and the outcome

mixed craft work and digital technology

and that allowed us a richness and
complexity very similar to the original.

There was a great expectation
at the opening time

to see how Venice will receive a copy.

Not only was the answer very positive
but it was also very emotional.

People broke into tears

because, in some way,
the work of art was back home

or maybe because the space cycle
was complete again, 200 years later.

It might seem a paradox:

the original painting is still in Paris,

but the copy in Venice
could appear even more authentic.

What if the public has
no access to the work of art?

That is the case of the Bolonia's Hall,

a private hall of the Apostolic Palace,
in Vatican City.

It is not open to the public

although it is one
of the most interesting halls.

The entire Hall is decorated

according to a sophisticated
conceptual artistic program

that displays different views
of the city of Bolonia.

Specifically, the south wall
maps a plan of the city,

one of the biggest urban reproductions
created during the Renaissance.

We combined different systems
to be able to document the Hall.

A panoramic photography of the hall,

and we also scanned
some parts of the wall in 3D.

Every project is a world in itself.

Once all the data was processed,

the color had to be match-printed
on the surface relief,

but due to the irregularities on the wall
it was impossible to do so

as they surpassed
the maximum height impression.

We then divided the problem
into two magnitudes:

a form magnitude to restate
the original topography of the wall,

and a texture magnitude reproducing
the relief of the painting.

We specifically developed
an elastic and flexible skin

on which we could print the color

and then adjusted it,
and adhere it to the surface relief.

So, once it was mounted
on light aluminium panels

the outcome yielded the expected quality.

Finally, the facsimile was installed
at the Bolonia's Museum of History.

What is this project's main difference
compared with the previous one?

In the previous one, the facsimile allowed

a painting to be brought back
to its original place.

In this case, the facsimile offered
for the first time the possibility

for many people to admire a work of art

in an interactive, natural and open way.

One of the most important reasons
to work on facsimiles is to protect

monuments or works of art
from being damaged by overexposure.

The tomb of Tutankhamen,

one of the most popular monuments
in the Valley of the Kings

has thousands of visitors every day.

It has been visited by millions
since it was discovered.

Its popularity is most likely
causing this site to deteriorate.

The humidity generated
by the respiration and transpiration

of thousands of visitors,

together with some rather
unfortunate past restorations

contributes to the paint
to literally peel off its walls.

In this case, the facsimile is the right
approach to an immediate necessity,

that of preserving and protecting
a monument of such enormous value.

The four walls and the sarcophagus
in the burial chamber were 3D scanned

and then, the high resolution color
and 3D data was digitized

on a scale never made before.

This digitally obtained data
is very important

because it allows us to monitor
the state of the tomb.

It is a digital record,

a permanent representation,

of the state of the tomb
at the time of the scanning.

In this particular case, in 2009.

For this project we developed
a system which allowed

the relief to be reproduced

on glass fiber reinforced
light resin panels.

A similar system was used for the color:

an elastic skin that once
the color was printed,

could be manually adhered
to the surface relief.

Once the adhesive has cured
through a vacuum bag,

the skin becomes harder.

Although the used material is completely
different from that of the original,

if observed under the same light
and from the same angle

it is practically identical.

From the beginning the idea was to display

the facsimile back in Egypt.

Five years into the project,

the right time to make it possible

was when at the beginning
of 2014, an area was selected

at the entrance to
the Valley of the Kings in Luxor,

for the the building
of an underground space

where the facsimile
would be permanently displayed.

Today, tourists traveling to Luxor
have the unique possibility

of contemplating both tombs,
the original and the facsimile

and to compare them against each other.

That is, in our opinion, a decisive step
towards sustainable tourism,

because a facsimile allows
an effective division

between contemplation and preservation.

To conclude,

beyond the technical challenge
of creating a copy,

our job seeks to draw attention
on the importance and urgency

to digitally document
our artistic and cultural heritage

in order to pass it down
to the next generations

as unchanged as possible.

For this reason, it is essential to
understand that originality

is a process rather than
a strict state of things.

Many thanks.

(Applause)