New Projects

Factum Foundation, Factum Arte and Factum Bologna are developing a wide range of historical projects based around documentation and the 3D recording of the surface of paintings, carved relief and three dimensional objects. The diversity of ideas and locations is breathtaking - some can be followed in greater depth on the Foundation website - others will be announced here soon.

In collaboration with Flanders Tapestries in Wielsbeke we are developing new tapestry projects with Grayson Perry, Rashid Koraichi, Carlos Garaicoa and other artists - these range from the intimate and detailed to the textured and vast.

A number of works with alabaster are in development from tables to jewelery, small sculptures to vast world maps.

The Hereford Mappa Mundi - The landscape of a map
Following the successful scanning on the famous Mappa Mundi in Hereford Cathedral, the 3D files were prepared, and routed at high resolution with a slightly exaggerated relief. The results are compulsive as the surface of the map has been transformed into an undulating landscape that reveals every detail of the surface. Already new insights into the map and its origins are surfacing and the hope is that this collaboration with Hereford Cathedral and the Trustees of the Mappa Mundi will assist in an understanding of the map - both specialists of cartography and the visually impaired who can feel the relief on the surface for the first time.

On 1st June, in conjunction with Hereford Cathedral, Adam Lowe and Jerry Brotton presented the results of the 3D scanning of the famous medieval map at the Hay festival. The surface of the map routed in 3D and cast in plaster were unveiled at the Festival and then moved to Hereford where it was installed near the original allowing visitors to feel the surface for the first time. This is especially relevant as Hereford is the home of the Royal College for the Blind.

Below are two recent articles on the project.

Article on Telegraph
Article on The Awl
Hereford Cathedral official site

Justo's Cathedral
The over life-sized crucifixion is emerging like a phoenix from the fire. A fire in Justo's cathedral (Mejorada del Campo, Madrid) badly damaged the crucifix that was destined for its main altar. In a conversation with Justo, he said he was sad but really wanted the crucifix twice as big. Using high resolution laser scanning and 6 axis routing the damaged crucifix has re-materialised at the desired size and will now be re-modeled by hand and polychromed by Factum Arte's Juan Carlos Arias.

Roger Law and his upcoming BBC radio series
Flavia Introzzi, Marc Richards and Roger Law enjoy the sights of Madrid from the back of James Macmillan-Scott's car as they travel to Factum Arte's warehouses. Roger is presenting a BBC radio series on Ingenuity and was here to discuss building 3D scanners, writing software and making a relief map of the surface of the world without water at a vast scale for the 2015 Venice biennale.

New work for Conrad Shawcross and Craigie Horsfield
An exhibition of new forms in silver by Conrad Shawcross opened at Louisa Guinness Gallery in Cork Street on the 5th June. Louisa Guinness will also be showing a new Alabaster and bronze table at the Basel Art fair. Also in Basel will be a new work by Craigie Horsfield printed onto a gesso-coated oak panel on Factum Arte's flatbed printer. A show of new still Still Lives by Craigie Horsfield printed using the same method opened at Large Glass in London on 7th June.

Congratulations to Bruno Latour
Congratulations to Bruno Latour - who was awarded the Holberg Prizein Bergen on June 5th.

Marc Quinn at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Congratulations to Marc Quinn on his spectacular exhibition at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice - The vast tourist ships that often dominate the view of Venice were overshadowed by the installation in the old boar-building space on the island. The exhibition filled the main exhibition spaces, the quayside and has proved to be the most discussed exhibition of the first days of the Venice Biennale. Admission to the exhibition is free and it runs until 29 September 2013.

Visit the Fondazione Giorgio Cini website
Go to artist page

Terra Forming - Engineering the sublime
The Terra Forming relief earth, without water in the oceans is now entering the testing phase and a one square meter area of the alps and northern Italy has now been ande using pixels of alabaster. A mixture of topographic and bathymetric data has been assembled at a resolution of one point per kilometer. The depth measurements were then exaggerated 10 times to produce an unfamiliar spiky surface. The finished work will literally be a 'theatre of the world'- it is proposed that it will be built 25 x 50 meters and will be flooded and drained repeatedly during the Venice Biennale of 2015.

Go to the Exhibition page

Mathias Bengtsson
Tests on the casting of Mathias Bengtsson's cellular chair have proved successful. In a collaboration between Materialise, Factum Arte and Pangolin Editions we were able to produce all the fine detail that had been missing in the first test by making developments to Materialise's remarkable Tetrashell system. Next is the complex task of casting the whole chair.

Craigie Horsfield
A new set of still life images are being produced for Craigie Horsfield onto specially prepared wooden panels. A group of six images will be shown at The Large Glass in London in June. Another larger work can be seen in Basel at the same time.

Go to artist page

Bologna and San Petronio
3D scanning work on the facade of San Petronio is entering its second month and is likely to last several months more. New projects are being developed and Grégoire Dupond has started producing time-lapse documentation of the porticos in Santa Stefano and elsewhere. It is hoped that this will develop into a major project to communicate the importance of these architectural features that have played a continuous role in defining in the relationship between the private and the public in Bologna for over 1000 years.

Mariko Mori's Moebius Strip
Following an introduction from Materialise, Factum Arte has started production on a number of complex and ambitious works with Mariko Mori. The first to be finished, a mad race against time, will be the Moebius strip that has been designed by Mariko Mori as the set for Madame Butterfly that will open at the Fenice theatre in Venice on 21st June.

Factum's surroundings
The wasteland outside Factu Artem's warehouse in Leganés that is usually brown and dead has errupted into a passable imitation of an image by Durer.

Paula Crown
Factum Arte's close collaboration with Paula Crown is developing steadily in a group of works in 2, 3 and 4 dimensions that address the indexical connections between drawn mark and relief surfaces. Multilayered prints, bronze casts, gilded forms and videos are all developing at the same time.

Go to artist page

Piranesi in San Diego
Following a successful run in San Diego the Piranesi exhibition will return to Venice and 'rest' while details of the next stage of the tour are being finalised. It is anticipated that the exhibition will continue in China, Norway and finally finish in Brussels. In an interesting development, the eight objects from the Piranesi Collection and a small, focused exhibition about Piranesi as a designer - will open at the Sir John Soane Museum in February 2014.

Go to the Piranesi Collection
Go to Project page

The start in Bologna
Factum Arte’s first branch opened in Bologna at the start of April under the direction of Grégoire Dupond. Pedro Miró is leading a team of 3 people recording the three doors on the façade of the church of San Petronio. The main door, by Jacopo della Quercia was cast in plaster the C19th. The new scans will present a perfect opportunity to compare the condition of the sculptures in the C19th with their condition today. Several other projects are being developed with the city of Bologna.

The Daily Beagle
The Daily Beagle is a set of articles and essays on obscure history, small conflicts and cultural issues. It is written/edited by Otto Lowe and Alex Peck, both of whom work in Factum Arte in different capacities. Their blog is an affirmation of the way that museum objects can become complex subjects! There are stories in the hidden christians of Japan revealed through Fumi-e and the image of the virgin disguised as Kanon, the Lycurgus cup, the sarcophagus of King Ahiram of Byblos and many others...

Visit thedailybeagle.net

Rebuilding the flatbed printer
After six years of continual work the flatbed printer has been completely rebuilt by Dwight Perry. It was originally built around and Epson 9600 Pro. This printer is now totally obsolete and spare parts no longer exist. We are now looking for any existing printers that we can find in good condition which we can strip down for spares. While this is going on Dwight is building the new flatbed which will be larger (150 x 400cm), higher resolution and with a number of modifications that will significantly improve the quality of our prints onto gesso and other surfaces.

The main 388 toothed pulley gear wheel has been designed and precision-milled by Dwight Perry. The next step will be to produce a 9-way ink line connector to extend the existing ink lines, which will require some very delicate milling. The finished printer was installed in Madrid in March.

Go to Technology: Printer Design

Factum at work
A new series of candid photographs by Factum Arte's Alicia Guirao del Fresno has been added to our "at work" section, Craftsmanship and Technology. A group of over thirty specialists in different areas makes up the team behind Factum Arte's vast array of projects, allowing close colaboration and experimentation between both traditional and technological techniques.

Go to Craftmansip and Technology