SHAPE 2017 TateExchange Book FINAL Draft - Flipbook - Page 31
In the mid-nineties, I visited Lincoln and whilst we were there, we went
to the cathedral to have a look. At the time, they were carrying out
some renovations and we stumbled upon a small exhibition about these
renovations, with examples of the materials, stonework, glass, wood etc.
that they were using. These were all laid out on a large table and each one,
as well as the printed information, had the same information in Braille.
I was fascinated and loved the fact that I could walk around the table
independently, taking as much or as little time with each exhibit as I wished,
while my friends enjoyed the cathedral and the exhibition in their own time.
That to me was a very empowering experience which has stayed with me,
even though the exhibition itself was comparatively small.
In the future, I would hope that 3D printing might be a way for blind and
partially sighted people to get a real feel for what exhibits are like. I am
hoping that this technology will be more widely used as surely the price
can only come down as it becomes more available. Some would argue that
a replica should look and feel exactly like the original item, which has often
been the reason why such replicas are not reproduced. I would dispute this
to a certain extent. A replica item merely serves as a starting point, a bit like
a template from which the detail can be attached by way of the descriptions
which are available for all exhibits.
Another argument against using replicas is that they must be the same size
as the original, and would therefore be far too difficult to house in museums
with limited space. Once again, I disagree with this. Scale models can be very
useful, particularly for something that is too large to feel around in terms of
how easy it is to reach. Once the shape of an object has been discovered, it is
easy to relate this to a larger size.
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