The use of full-parallax colour digital holography as an artistic medium

This thesis maintains that full-parallax direct-write digital holography (DWDH), or in contemporary shorthand ‘digital holography’, can be successfully used as an artistic medium, as evidenced by my full-parallax, full colour, hologram, Emergence. This hologram visualises the complete structure of the Bulbo-clitoral organ within the body. It was created using Ultimate Holography’s Chimera technology with 250 micrometre hogels and has outstanding colour. It is a cutting-edge work, advancing the field in the context of contemporary artworks, and it paves the way for future research and practice opportunities. The practice-based research leading up to and including the production of Emergence includes examples of experimentation and collaboration. It provides original insights into the practice of creation in the three-dimensional medium of holography, with multi-dimensional interdisciplinary applications in art, culture, anatomy, and science. Taken together, the four new studies presented in the thesis build a background of exploration of the medium of digital holography, in resonance with the various fields of inspiration for the envisioned artworks. The studies explore ideas and give insight into practical workflows, and the thesis identifies and discusses both the opportunities and barriers to using the medium for data visualisation, and to create artworks using elements of data visualisation. Each study comes from a distinct idea with its own motivation and backstory. By detailing an individual artistic journey, the thesis shares the knowledge gained for the benefit of future artists, designers, and researchers in the field. It is intended to make digital holography practice more accessible for future users. The research assists both creative practice and technological development in digital holography both by creating a piece of new work at the frontier of the possible and through detailed disclosure of the processes used to achieve it.