Casting a wide (inter)net
The internet is a big place, and because of this it can be pretty challenging to find some of those really interesting parts. In the first instalment of Freeform I’m going to be taking quite a broad approach in the sites and resources collected. Rather than being very particular, or using niche sites, I think it would be good to share resources from big institutions, or sites which inspired me to make ectype.
Hermanubis (restored)
From: threedscans.com
“All scans can be downloaded and used without copyright restrictions.” - From the website.
Three D Scans is a website initiated by Artist Oliver Laric in 2012. The website contains a number of scans of historic sculptures from collections around Europe. The scans themselves are made for use in Laric’s own arts practice, however, they are made available for all to use through this site. While a kind gesture to make the scans publicly available, it is also important to note that documentation of artwork that is old enough to be part of the public domain are not protected by copyright, meaning you are free to use the documentation in any way you see fit. It is the belief of many that institutions have the responsibility to make new forms of documentation publicly available for use, much like with photos and older methods of documentation.
The example I have chosen from the site is a 3D scan of the Graeco-Egyptian God Hermanubis, a syncretism of the Greek God Hermes and the Egyptian God Anubis. The scan is reflective of Laric’s recent practice, in which the transformation of human-animal hybrids in popular culture and historic sculptures are examined and recontextualised.
The Earth Seen From The Moon
From: www.flickr.com/britishlibrary
This Image is from the book “The Half Hour Library of Travel, Nature and Science for young readers”, Published in 1896.
“Since 2013, British Library released more than 1 million images to Flickr Commons. The images were obtained from the Library’s digitised collection of 65,000 books of the 17th, 18th and 19th century. The release of these images indicates the Library’s desire “to improve knowledge of and about them, to enable novel and unexpected ways of using them, and to begin working with researchers to explore and interpret large scale digital collections“. The images are arranged by different themes, such as book covers, illustrated letters, maps, flora and children’s book illustrations. “ - Quoted from the website Open Image Collections
I learnt about the British Libraries Flickr collection around 2015 when I was still in high school and has since been a resource I come back to from time to time. Despite the loose album collections a lot of these images are saved into, it is a complete mess and almost impossible to navigate if you were looking for something specific. Instead it is a collection which seems best suited for casual browsing, in which you might uncover something special. No promises though.
Muybridge race horse animated
From: www.commons.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia Commons is a collection of over 100 million freely usable digital media files.
”The Wikimedia Foundation owns almost none of the content on Wikimedia sites — the content is owned, instead, by the individual creators of it. However, almost all content hosted on Wikimedia Commons may be freely reused subject to certain restrictions (in many cases).” - Quoted from Wikimedia
This GIF was made from a series of photographs taken by Eadweard Muybridge in 1877. It is one of the earliest examples of Chronophotography, where images are taken in sequence to show the passage of time on the subject. The images were commissioned in order to better understand and research the horse’s gait, something which up until then had been difficult to document through sketching or single photographs.
I picked this as an example to show that many important historical pieces of art and media are available to use without permissions due to their age. The assumption could be that obtaining the rights to something like this could land you in a bureaucratic nightmare, but luckily sites like wikimedia commons provide licensing information next to all their media so you can easily see what you can use and whether there are any restrictions.
Your Flannelette Cure: Fire Tests with Textiles (1910)
From: Public Domain Review
“Founded in 2011, The Public Domain Review is an online journal and not-for-profit project dedicated to the exploration of curious and compelling works from the history of art, literature, and ideas.
As our name suggests, the focus is on works now fallen into the public domain, that vast commons of out-of-copyright material that everyone is free to enjoy, share, and build upon without restriction. Our aim is to promote and celebrate the public domain in all its abundance and diversity, and help our readers explore its rich terrain – like a small exhibition gallery at the entrance to an immense network of archives and storage rooms that lie beyond.” - Quoted from Public Domain Review
While previous examples have been databases full of various pieces of media, Public Domain Review is a site quite similar to freeform, where media that is in the public domain is selected and written about in detail. The site itself doesn’t host the files, instead linking to their original sources.
A Roof Obscured by Foliage
From: ectype.online
I thought I would end the first Freeform post by bringing it back to one of the images hosted right here on ectype.
I started this project with the intention of encouraging artists to be more open with sharing their creative resources and process, and I hope to continue this line of thought through freeform.
While ectype will remain about sharing original resources, I hope that freeform can help educate people on the many other sites where free to use digital media is available, as well as sharing just how varied and unique these resources can be.