The 38 texture maps included in Three Digs A Skull were created by photo-modeling software. The maps are used to add photorealistic surface information to web-based 3D models scanned by different users. They are produced by an algorithm and meant to be parsed by modeling software, but not seen by humans. As such, their aesthetic is non-intentional.
Each visitor to tex_archive.com activates a search for a new texture map, which is then presented, archived, and posted to twitter at @tex_archive (where it is cataloged by the Library of Congress). By retrieving these images the texture maps are removed from their normal operation for display to a human viewer. Divorced from the software and 3D model, they no longer function as operative images. The tex_archive records this transformation.
Three Digs A Skull shifts the context again, re-framing the tex_archive as a chance-retrieved inventory of object-images.
tex-archive.com
twitter.com/tex_archive