Using a 3D printer, Mittwoch magnified a 3D scan of a distal phalanx bone from a human index finger to about 1,000 times its original size, a plaster object measuring some 25 centimeters long. It is placed on a stainless steel autopsy tray, its tip pointed at the tray's drainage port. Purchased online, the original skeletal fragment used for the magnified model is 'drained' of its former flesh and skin, layers that contain a person's one-off identification markers.
The magnifying ratio was the largest possible for the kind of equipment Mittwoch had used, an additive 3D printer commonly used for anatomical and medical purposes. In a sense, the machinery is pushed to its limit, producing an object that begins to show the marks of a reduced resolution even to the naked eye. When looking closely, we perceive the intricate topography of the magnified object, with fine lines indicating the layers of matter added on in a linear process of manufacturing.
With a stand-in for fingerprints that have long washed out, the phalanx bone regains the imprint of a new identity – albeit one that, in theory, is no longer personal, containing as it does the potential for endless replicability.