Archaeological Information Interest Group: Phil Sapirstein

The Archaeology Centre's Archaeological Information Interest Group (AIIG) presents:

"The impacts of the transition from hand drawing to digital 3D recording on archaeological interpretation"
Phil Sapirstein, Assistant Professor, Department of Art History, University of Toronto

Thursday, December 3, 2020
3 to 4:30 pm EST
Online via Zoom
Register on the AIIG Zoom page or via the "Register" link above.

The rapid turn to 3D scanning and photogrammetry techniques has raised concerns among archaeologists and architectural historians about what would be lost if these new tools and practices were to replace traditional forms of hand drawing, especially since the latter are viewed as more thought-provoking than their digital analogues. Professor Sapirstein will compare the illustration of ancient architecture through analogue and digital means, based on his previous experiences with both during fieldwork in Greece. In practice, even hand-drawing involves much work that significantly distracts attention away from the ancient subject, yet it does require a protracted period of in-person scrutiny and interpretation at the site which 3D imaging technologies risk eliminating altogether. Professor Sapirstein will close with a discussion of how, through its substantial savings in time, 3D recording does open up new avenues whereby thoughtful and reflective research could be integrated into archaeological fieldwork, but only if we accommodate the very different cadences inherent to the digital workflow.