Tools versus medium – the use of rapid prototyping in contemporary sculpture

This research project resulted in the first symposium held in the UK that focused on Rapid Prototyping in Contemporary Sculpture in an international context. It gave an overview of current practices, debated the impact that Rapid Prototyping has had on Contemporary Sculpture, extended and challenged the conception / reception of the object. It asked the question - Are we in a paradigm shift of the sculptural object? My own research project, commenced by establishing an analytical framework that describes and conceptualises the visual experience of the physical. I initiated this major study by recording conversations by contemporary sculptors - Phyllida Barlow, David Cheeseman, John Issacs, Elizabeth Rosser and Johnathan Callen. The symposium featured presentations from international artists who use advanced digital technology: Annie Cattrell, Bruce Gernand, Keith Brown. Roger Clarke, as well as Professor David Wimpenny. Keynote - Christiane Paul, the Curator of New Media Arts at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Director of Intelligent Agent, Digital Art (part of the World of Art Series by Thames & Hudson, UK 2003). Heidi Reitmaier from the Tate Britain, London, chaired the panel. Arising out of the symposium I was awarded an AHRC and Arts Council (ACE) Arts and Science Research Fellowship to establish Annie Cattrell as a Research Fellow in Fine Art and Computing Sciences and Engineering. The project was a collaboration between Professor David Wimpenny from the Faculty of Computing Sciences and Engineering and Dr Sarah Wayte from Walsgrave Hospital NHS Trust, Coventry. The project explored the implications (both Artistic and Scientific), of the application of Rapid Prototyping in creating representations in Contemporary Sculpture from Magnetic Resonance Imaging