Exact Metrology: A Division of In-Place Machining Company, a comprehensive 3D metrology service provider and hardware sales company, recently scanned a sculpture by a Memphis, Tennessee artist, Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo, a resident at Crosstown Arts in Memphis.
The sculpture is based on a growing sinkhole that has not been fixed and is getting worse. Cornejo was looking for a metrology company that could capture all the details. An artist friend, who had worked with Exact Metrology in the past, recommended the company to her. After contacting Exact Metrology, Sarah Elizabeth sent her sculpture to the company’s Cincinnati, Ohio location for CT scanning. The sculpture was made so that it could be held.
CT scanning is an x-ray methodology yielding 3D results by placing an object on a rotational stage between an x-ray tube and an x-ray detector, rotating the object 360 degrees and capturing images at specific intervals. In order to render the 3D x-ray model of the part or object, the images are then reconstructed. CT visualization software allows users to slice through in any direction to produce optimal views and images required for the analysis of the internal configuration. CT scanning is the only way to get 3D views inside a part and also the only way to get true dimensional data without cutting up or destroying the object. In addition, very little time is required to capture data and troubleshoot parts. Lastly, a single scan can be used for void analysis, inspection, volume, porosity, reverse engineering, etc.
Sinkhole side view
Powered by CT scanning, company personnel were able to send Cornejo the data she needs to scale it to the purposes of a 10 foot sculpture. The sculpture will be installed on the campus of the University of Memphis. The sculpture is immersive, so visitors will be able to walk into it. It is made of hardware cloth, aluminum fencing, epoxy clay, asphalt from Memphis and acrylic paint. The interior has reflective beads.
Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo is an interdisciplinary artist. Her work proposes a futuristic mythology for humanity where humans have evolved into hybrid beings with animals and insects. She is the co-founder and co-curator of BASEMENT, a provisional artist-run space in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is also a 2021 New Public Sculpture Fellow with the Urban Arts Commission in Memphis.
Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo
Talking about her collaboration with Exact Metrology, Cornejo said, “I came into this project not having much of an idea of what was possible from a 3-D scan but having a sense of what I was hoping to do with it in order to scale up my sculpture from ten inches to ten feet. Exact Metrology was incredibly patient in taking time to learn about the project, asking what I needed out of the final scan, and then talking to me about their recommendations for how to get the information I was looking for out of my maquette. They took time to trouble shoot the different possibilities, communicated with me along the way with some progress scans, and ultimately got me the result I needed to move forward with the piece.”
