cultural artifacts are skinned using 3D photogrammetry to produce tufted tiger rugs

dov ganchrow and guy megides for jerusalem design week 2022

Dov Ganchrow and Guy Megides’ collaboration, ‘Skinning’, proposes an interesting victimless twist on the concept of skinning a wild animal for its hide. It uses 3D photogrammetry scans of animal sculptures and artifacts produced over the last 40,000 years, to digitally ‘skin’ the artifacts, and repurpose them as tufted rugs. The work was realised for Jerusalem Design Week 2022, as part of the Go for Broke exhibition which explores the dialogue between archaeology and design, focusing on findings and inventions, and objects and their stories.

all images courtesy of Dov Ganchrow

cartoon tiger RUGS made using 3d photogrammetry

‘Skinning’ was created in response to the nature of archaeology and experiments with how objects from the past may be altered, clarified and renewed. Product designer Dov Ganchrow utilises 3D photogrammetry, a contemporary analytical tool used typically by archaeologists that allows them to study and archive artifacts. It has an inherent technical characteristic that allows for a reinterpretation of two related hominin craft traditions: skinning hunted animals and creating sculptural icons of those same animals.

The process and technology make it possible to scan through infinite animal sculptures and artifacts that have been produced over the last 40,000 years. Digital 3D color artifact files (virtual objects with real-world-like surface appearance) are achieved for the representation software in two separate and linked groups of information: geometric/volumetric spatial information contained in a mesh, and in correlation, the colour information (UV map) belonging on the surface of that mesh. Textile designer and creative collaborator, Guy Megides, is then able to use the digital files to renew and realize the digital skin of the cultural artifacts into rugs. The collection includes digital skin designs and tufted rugs made from the skin of a cartoon tiger, a Vietnamese ceramic tiger model and a 40,000-year-old mountain lion statue made of mammoth ivory.

guy megides collaborates with dov ganchrow to realize the tiger skins

tufted tiger skin

volumetric information, colour information and skin of cartoon tiger

vietnamese ceramic tiger

haw par villa tiger statue from singapore

40,000 year old mammoth ivory mountain lion statue

project info:

name: Skinning
designer: Dov Ganchrow and Guy Megides

exhibition name: Go for Broke | part of Jerusalem Design Week 2022, Israel

exhibition curator: Shahar Kedem 

supported by: The 2022 Jerusalem Design Week The Israel Antiquities Authority Dror Revach Doron Altaratz and Moshe Caine MUT – Museum of the University of Tubingen, and the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments, Esslingen Office, Germany Funbie Studios, Singapore

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom