Plaster Casts, Augmented. Architecture in the Museum and the Impact of Digital Media

Abstract

Among museum plaster casts, those of architecture have a peculiar status. They are not complete replicas of originals, as is the case for statuary, but copies of pieces, fragments or portions of buildings —one historical response to the problem of exhibiting architecture in a museum gallery. The complex relationship of plaster casts of architecture with their originals is at the origin of the Augmented Reality experience Plaster ReCast. Through the lens of this digital media project, the essay examines how digital reproduction techniques are changing our relationship with many tenets of modern culture: the concept of authenticity, the role of museums in our society and also the way we look at the objects contained in them.