Editions & Replicas: Robert Tait McKenzie Discs

 

The Story:
Dr. Robert Tait McKenzie is a Canadian-born artist and physician who developed a great appreciation for athletics and physical training during his years at McGill University where he attended both the undergraduate and Medical Schools. While getting his medical degree McKenzie also became a gymnastic champion and set a high jump record.

After graduation Dr. McKenzie developed his own medical practice and also became an anatomy professor at his alma mater. During his tenure at McGill he became convinced of the need for preventative medicine and developed a program of physical exercise for the prevention of disease. 

Top to Bottom: Comparison of the original Joy of Effort and Replica, Comparison of the original Three Punters and Replica

When McGill University was unable to invest in a physical training program, McKenzie accepted the position as Director of the new Department of Physical Education for the University of Pennsylvania. There he was able to test his theories on health and athletics, and he developed a physical education program that became a core part of the curriculum at the University.   

Unable to find sculptural pieces that demonstrated points in his anatomy lectures, McKenzie began sculpting the human form while he was still at McGill University and continued through most of his life becoming best known for his sculpture. He mastered the arts of anatomical sculpture as well as the art of relief and the medallion. His most acclaimed medallion, Joy of Effort, was set into the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden for the 1912 Olympics. He also produced medals for Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association (ICAA).

During the First World War, Dr. McKenzie served as a military surgeon in the Royal Army Medical Corps where he organized the physical training camps before focusing on physical therapy, orthopedic and reconstructive surgeries and rehabilitation, revolutionizing the treatment of wounded warriors. After the war he continued to sculpt while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania and even won the art competition for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games with his Shield of Athletes medallion during that was later adopted as the official "Olympic Shield" at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964.
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The Challenge:  
Direct Dimensions was contracted by the University of Pennsylvania to scan and recreate a series of two bronze bas relief discs (approximately 4 feet in diameter) that would be installed approximately 25 feet up in the air in a gymnasium.                                                                                                            return to full slide show

The Solution:

• 3D laser scan the original discs using the Surphaser Spherical Scanner
  
• Create accurate 3D models from the scan data
• The data was then milled out of a light foam
  
• A layer of epoxy resin was added to the foam
• The discs were milled a second time at high resolution
• The hard outer surface of the discs were painted in faux bronze
• Installation fixtures were built into the rear of the model to the installers specifications                                                                                                                                                                             return to full slide show
  

 

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