Doppelgänger and Zombies | Rochus Urban Hinkel

Decorative Arts in the Digital Age
Exhibition of Archetypes, Cyber Crafts and Collectibles

1 – 23 July 2022
David Roche Foundation, 241 Melbourne St North Adelaide

Finissage event: On Saturday 23 July at 3:00pm, collectibles and NFTs exhibited in Doppelgänger and Zombies will be auctioned. The auction will be conducted by Esther Anatolitis. 
>>> Free tickets available here.

Craftship and arts, design and fabrication have shifted dramatically in the Digital Age. From New Materials, Avatars, Crypto Currencies, GANs, Metaverse, and Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs), to Lidar Scanning, Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR), and Additive Manufacturing – all are expressions of the potentials of 21st century’s digital technologies and platforms. These technologies are used in ways which leave us in awe and astound at the same time. They also enable the creation of bespoke artifacts and explicit archetypes, enabling parallel and alternate realities, imaging and curating other versions and interpretations of our world.

The exhibition Doppelgänger and Zombies presents new artworks that are created based on 3D scans of masterpieces from David Roche’s 18th and 19th century collection of decorative arts objects. The works are based on processes that critically and artistically explore and test the promises and potentials as well as the limitations and handicaps of digital technologies. Exquisite physical and digital artifacts are developed and fabricated, using 3D scanning and printing, CNC milling, 360 degrees photography, photogrammetry, digital modeling, rendering and image manipulation software, algorithms as well as augmented and virtual reality.

Doppelgänger and Zombies presents a collection of physical and digital artworks of surprisingly playful, highly crafted artworks, based on the application of cutting-edge digital technologies for their fabrication. Concepts and meanings are developed through an investigative and associative approach, using story-telling and the staggering of ideas that enrich the works and help develop their meanings.

Dr. Rochus Urban Hinkel is Associate Professor at the Melbourne School of Design, and Co-Director of the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication (ADD+F) research group at The University of Melbourne. Doppelgänger and Zombies is funded through The SIDA Foundation, UniSA and The David Roche Foundation Research Fellowship in Interior Design and Decoration, and is the final exhibition during the two year Fellowship (2020-2022). The exhibition is accompanied by tours and artist talks, presentations of the processes and a limited edition of physical and digital collectables, including NFTs, that will be auctioned onsite and online.