The replacement of geography by standards and what to do about it

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ginger coons
University of Toronto, Faculty of Information, Critical Making Lab & Semaphore

Abstract

Anthropometry has historically involved “men of science” carefully measuring and noting down the dimensions of human bodies. Anthropometry is invoked to emphasize the importance of measuring the world at human scale, to achieve better economies of scale in making human-sized objects, and to make arguments and predictions about ideal states of humanity. This paper presents two projects that parse relationships between human bodies and measurement. Scanning Hands explores low-end 3D scanning as a probe and catalyst for discussion of the history of anthropometry as it relates to current 3D scanning practices. Non-Standard Bodies, an interactive wearable sculpture, tackles the imposition of remote standards on individual bodies. The goals of this paper are twofold: to explore systems of body measurement and their often-ignored ramifications; and to introduce an idea, the replacement of geography by standards, as a way of positioning and generalizing such measurement activities.

Keywords: Measurement, Geography, Standards, Bodies, Digitization, Anthropometry, 3D scanning

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