Artist in Residence – Guest Journal by Henry Cottam

When I began the residency with invisible flock I wanted to expand my knowledge of 3D scanning. Invisible Flock have a collection of scanning equipment that offered lots of exciting possibilities for my current body of work, which has consisted of documenting post-industrial sites of interest through 3D modelling technologies. 

On a few occasions, I took the Faro scanner out into the sculpture park to carry out tests, scanning a variety of different areas in the grounds in order to get a basic understand of how the technology worked in practice. From using the scanner, and the post production software, I have managed to develop a base level of understanding, knowledge which will help me for projects that I hope to complete in the future. 

From there I was able to dedicate time to producing 3D models of former industrial sites. Up until my residency with Invisible Flock, I have struggled to produce large data set model’s due to a lack of facilities available to me, so it was great to push the work that I was starting to make before the residency began even further. 

I then worked with Ben to explore other 3D scanning and modelling methods that I hadn’t come across before such as CloudCompare and TouchDesigner. I was able to improve my workflow for creating 3D models and broaden my understanding of how I could make more efficient models. It also opened up more possibilities of what I could do with the models in post-production, taking them into different software to produce videos and 3D printable files.

Throughout the residency I was also able to develop my knowledge of scanning and modelling, working with Invisible Flock’s micro scanner, which the team showed me how to use which was really exciting. It opened a new avenue of thinking about documenting a site through scanning, bringing in different scales to consider the macro and micro detail that can be captured for documenting large and complex sites. 

Working with Ralph was really rewarding as I was able to produce small scale sculptures from 3D models produced during the residency.  Ralph was really generous with his time, introducing me to the CNC machine, walking me through the basic principles of the software and machinery. From this we experimented with routering some of my models out of different types of wood and playing around with producing these sculptures at different scales and finishes. Up until this point the models that I had been creating only existed as digital files on my computer therefore I was really excited to come away from my residency with some physical objects, furthering my interest in bringing disappearing artefacts and histories back into the physical world. 

Amy also taught me how to use the laser cutter, another piece of equipment that I had always wanted to use, but never had the opportunity to. Amy helped me to produce some etched works onto wood. I hadn’t planned to use either the Laser Cutter or the CNC machines at the start of the residency but the freedom to play, experiment, test and learn with the team has been very rewarding and suits how I work best. Overall the opportunity has opened up many new avenues to explore in my practice in the near future.

Henry Cottam – Artist in Residence