SCANITAS:lab

SCANITAS:lab extended the earlier SCANITAS exhibition as an evolving laboratory of experiments in 3D scanning and spatial imagery. Using objects reminiscent of Flemish vanitas painting, the project tested photogrammetry against transparent, reflective, repetitive, patterned and highly complex surfaces. As the software struggled to interpret them, the scans produced warped and indistinct forms that made the limitations of machine vision materially visible.

Shown at KARST, Plymouth, from 6 to 13 September 2025, the exhibition included folded Pepakura sculptures, layered prints made from glitched models and scan textures, pen-plotted scan images and photographic simulations of sculptural works. The laboratory format emphasised process rather than resolution: works could develop within the gallery, connecting the ephemerality of the vanitas tradition with the temporary, fallible and constantly revised nature of computational images.
Photo documentation by Dom Moore