In this talk, Marianne Webb presented some findings from her ongoing research into the degradation of Asian lacquers.
She produced 11 different samples of lacquer formulated with Urushiol-based lacquer (sourced from Japan, China, and Korea), Laccol-based lacquers (from Vietnam or Taiwan), oil, and pigment. The sample boards were all prepared in the same manner, coated on both sides with raw lacquer, a layer with inert clay filler applied to both sides, and then ground smooth after drying in a wet box. The different lacquer formulations were then applied. The samples were artificially aged in a weather-ometer, exposing a new section of the sample each week for four weeks.
The degradation was evaluated using five factors: color, gloss, surface pH, autofluorescence, and microcracking.
Color – Fading was not a reliable assessment of degradation of black lacquer, but worked well for red lacquers. Microfadometer tests have placed red lacquers between Blue Wool 2 & 3, indicating that lacquer has similar light sensitivity to paper or textiles.
Gloss – Each sample had a different original gloss, with laccol on its own having less gloss than urushi, but becoming very glossy with the addition of oil. Transparent urushi retained its gloss well, but formulations with added oil lost a significant amount of gloss after aging.
Autofluorescence – chemical changes in lacquer seemed immediate once exposed to light (after 12 hours, the differences were obvious) but there is a maximum point at 1 week, then the autofluorescence decreases.
Surface pH – The pH of lacquer doesn’t necessarily drop as it ages. Transparent lacquer seems to have the lowest pH after aging because the light can penetrate it and therefore it gets more light damage. There was not direct correlation between the amount of oil and pH after aging, but they generally had higher pH. After approximately 1 week the pH reaches a plateau and then after 3-4 weeks it goes back up. Clearly, lacquer’s pH does not have a linear relationship to aging. Disclaimer: All pH tests damage the surface of lacquer since they require water to solubilize degradation products, leaving a void.
Microcracking – All of the samples showed changes after exposure to light. The patterns were distinct and all different.
The level of detail in the investigations and results of the study was incredibly impressive. The study emphasized the number of factors that one should consider when approaching each individual piece of lacquer. The author also indicated a desire to investigate formulations with Thitsi lacquer (from Burma and Thailand) and the sudden fogging phenomenon sometimes observed when lacquer is exposed to heat and moisture in the future.
Tag: AIC’s 44th Annual Meeting
Joint 44th AIC Annual Meeting and 42nd CAC-ACCR Annual Conference — Book and Paper Session, May 16th — “The Coptic Binding Collection at The Morgan Library & Museum: History, Conservation and Access” by Georgia Southworth and Francisco H. Trujillo
Georgia Southworth, Independent Book Conservator, and Frank Trujillo, Associate Book Conservator at The Morgan Library & Museum, closed out Monday morning’s Book and Paper session with a fascinating talk on the history and rehousing of The Morgan’s singular collection of Coptic bindings.
The story of the Coptic bindings at The Morgan Library & Museum began in 1910 with the discovery of a cache of nearly sixty volumes dating from the 9th and 10th centuries CE. Found in Hamouli, Egypt, these volumes made a circuitous journey with stops in France, the United States, and Italy, before coming to rest New York in the 1920s. During the nearly thirty years between their discovery and their arrival at The Morgan, the parchment textblocks were separated from the covers, never to be reuinited. While the textblocks were extensively treated at the Vatican Library, the covers were packed away, presumably with the intention of addressing them at a later time. Unfortunately, World War I and J. Pierpont Morgan’s death interfered with the planned project to photograph and restore the collection, extending the timeline by several years. The covers, which had been consolidated with oil and wax, and in some cases lined with gauze, were not returned to The Morgan until 1929. They remained packed away until 1984, when Deborah Evetts, then the Drue Heinz Book Conservator, found them still stored in their Vatican shipping crates.
The covers are comprised of laminated layers of papyrus covered with leather. The decoration of the leather ranges from simple cold-tooled designs to elaborate compositions incorporating layers of colored and gilt leather and parchment that have been cut, pierced, and interlaced to create complex and beautiful designs.
Image courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum
The condition of the covers varies widely; while some are almost completely intact, others are brittle, fragmentary, and riddled with wormholes. Attempts to devise a housing method for these exquisite objects had been ongoing since they were re-discovered in 1984. In consultation with Christopher Clarkson, Deborah Evetts performed minor stabilization treatment on a few of the covers, and tested several housing prototypes. The ideal housing would protect and support the covers, while still allowing for easy access and viewing of both sides of each board.
Previous prototypes included deep sinkmats, Plexiglas sandwiches, and simple matboard folders lined with glassine. One prototype was made of layers of Plexiglas cut to fit the perimeter of the cover to create a customized well. Unfortunately, this design was also heavy, and caused the fragile covers to rest against a hard surface.
Image courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum
Image courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum
The final housing design incorporated the idea of a custom recess, and used separate layers to allow the sides of each cover to be viewed without direct handling.
The material selected to create the well was soft, inert, non-abrasive Volara foam. Each cover was carefully traced, and the outlines were sent to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where they were laser cut into the foam. The layers of foam are sandwiched between two pieces of 1/8” Artcare archival foam board to create a light and rigid support. A full sheet of Volara is adhered to each piece of foamboard, and two inner layers of Volara are laser cut to the shape of each cover. These wells are slightly larger than the covers, providing protection without actually touching the fragile edges.
Image courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum
Foam pegs keep the layers aligned, but allow them to be separated to expose the sides of the covers. When closed, the layers are held securely in place by these pegs, allowing the sandwich to be flipped to show the verso of the cover. This light, rigid sandwich is stored inside a Talas e-flute reinforced clamshell box. A linen tab was added to the interior of each box to facilitate removal of the sandwich. For easy storage, three standard sizes of clamshell were selected.
Image courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum
This solution worked well for the covers and large fragments. Smaller fragments were stored separately in Mylar envelopes, which were barcoded to associate them with their parent binding. These envelopes of fragments were stored together in a separate box.
Image courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum
The final element of this project was the creation of high-resolution images of all the bindings. These images are currently being processed, and will soon be available to the public via The Morgan’s website. In the meantime, I’m sure that many of us will have ideas for applying this novel housing concept to objects in our own collections. Thank you, Georgia and Frank, for an excellent talk!
Joint 44th AIC Annual Meeting and 42nd CAC-ACCR Annual Conference — Book and Paper Session, May 16th — “Push Pins, Staples, Daylight, Glazing and Barrier Free: Are conservation standards becoming too relaxed?” by Joan Weir
In the BPG session on Monday, May 16, Joan Weir gave voice to a question that has undoubtedly plagued the sleep of many of her colleagues: are conservation standards, particularly when it comes to exhibition, becoming too relaxed? In her role as Conservator for Works of Art on Paper at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Ms. Weir has gained extensive experience with the challenges of exhibiting contemporary art. Noting that the range of artifacts classified as “works of art on paper” is very broad, Weir commented that it can be difficult to set consistent boundaries and guidelines for exhibition practices. Some touchstones are available to conservators, including AIC’s Code of Ethics and intellectual property laws. I was interested to learn that in Canada, artists retain “moral rights” to their work, even if they no longer hold economic rights to the work. This moral right allows artists to protect their work from changes that might compromise their original intent, including changes in how the work is displayed.*
To illustrate the challenges inherent in exhibiting contemporary art, Weir presented several case studies. The first example was Richard Serra’s 9’ by 21’ oilstick on paper, Untitled, 1974 (presented at the 2013 AIC Annual Meeting, and blogged by Karen Dabney). The artist’s intention was that the work be stapled directly to the gallery wall, and shown without any barrier. Weir and her colleagues collaborated with Serra and a studio assistant to develop a protocol for installing the work, which toured to several locations. They created mockups to practice the installation protocol, and to try to answer what Weir called “a world of nerdy conservation questions,” such as: what kind of staples should be used? What kind of stapler? Do the staple bands need to come into contact with the paper? Should existing staple holes be used? The same two-person team traveled to all exhibition venues to carry out the installation, and an agreement was reached to station a guard in the gallery at all times, to compensate for the lack of a physical barrier. While the protocol was largely successful, Weir noted that it is often the case that “once you go there, you can’t go back” – stapling is now considered an option for other exhibits.
The next case study was installation of large, unglazed wax pastels for AGO’s 2015 exhibition Stephen Andrews POV, which were hung using a temporary tab of sheer polyester attached to the work using Beva and heat, and stapled to the wall. The artist liked this system so well that he requested that the tabs be left attached to the works he loaned for the show. Low platform barriers were used for this exhibition, but AGO staff noted the presence of footprints on top of the platforms, suggesting that the barrier was not entirely successful.
Throughout her presentation, Weir emphasized the importance of dialog between conservators, curators, and artists. Natural light presents a special set of challenges. Weir cited an exhibit of Marcel Dzama’s work, in which over 100 works were rotated into 33 frames to minimize individual light exposure. She also described a large watercolor on canvas by Silke Otto-Knapp, which was shown unglazed in a gallery with uncovered windows. In that case, the artist shared information about the materials used to create the work, allowing conservators to determine that it was likely to be stable in the gallery conditions.
Through these examples, Weir made a compelling case that our job as conservators is to adapt to changing conventions and exhibition practices, while still ensuring the safety of the artwork. By engaging in early, frequent, and open communication with stakeholders, including the artist, and by thinking creatively about solutions to exhibition challenges, conservators can be good stewards not only of the physical object, but of the artist’s conceptual intent.
*I am not a legal scholar, and I apologize if I mischaracterized the implications of Canadian copyright law!
44th Annual Meeting – Wooden Artifacts Session, May 15, "Embers in the Ashes: Challenges Encountered During the Restoration of Fire-damaged Woodwork in a Historic House Museum by Amanda Salmon and Deborah Hudson”
Craigflower Manor National Historic Site (1853-6) in Victoria, BC is one of the oldest remaining farmhouse buildings in British Columbia and opened to the public in 1969. In January 2009, during an unusually cold winter, a fire started on the first floor. It was probably a “delayed ignition” (also called long term low temperature ignition) fire, caused by an electric heater warming and drying the area over time. There was no fire suppression in the house; fortunately, firefighters arrived in minutes, and extinguished the fire before it reached flashpoint.
Most of the damage was limited to the central staircase, adjacent to the ignition site. There was extensive charring of the structure and millwork, in some places total loss. There were also charred and blistered finishes and soot damage, but relatively little water damage. The restoration of Craigflower took four years, and along with cleaning included replacing wood elements (reusing the hardware as much as possible).
The worst damaged wood (judged as 50% or less of sound wood remaining) was removed. CO2 pellet blasting was used to remove char and soot from other areas, which worked well to quickly expose undamaged wood. Unfortunately, the plastic sheeting intended to contain all the material blasted off the surface was inadequate, and dust was deposited all throughout the house, requiring extensive cleanup in areas with no fire damage. While CO2 blasting companies will often claim that the process does not generate waste or leave behind residues, we should be aware that all the material blasted off during cleaning will go somewhere! Before using CO2 cleaning technique, test to determine how much dust will be generated, and make sure adequate extraction and abatement enclosures are in place before blasting. In the end, traditional mechanical removal of the char using chisels etc. may be more controllable and preferable.
44th Annual Meeting & 42nd Annual Conference – Book and Paper Session, May 16, “Paper Tapestry: Wallpaper Preservation” by Joanna P. McMann
Joanna McMann, Assistant Conservator at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, was incredibly busy in Montreal, presenting two talks at the Book and Paper specialty session! This presentation outlined the work completed for the Spadina Museum in Toronto, Ontario. The historic house museum opened in 1984, and has been the subject of restoration treatment previously, as presented in the 2011 CAC-ACCR conference in Winnipeg: https://www.cac-accr.ca/files/pdf/e-cac-conference-2011.pdf (see page 20 for the abstract of “Wallpaper Reproduction Goes Digital”).
The 1912-1913 third floor servants’ hallway had not been restored, and the floral-patterned wallpaper’s in situ stabilization was McMann’s goal. There were a number of condition issues including losses, abrasions, delamination of wallpaper from the wall, water staining, tearing, and significant soot, dust, and grime, resulting from the area being used as a storage space. The wallpaper’s paper substrate was pulpy and weak, and its media was water-soluble. McMann found that a modified technique of the full-scale digital printing previously used was necessary to complete the conservation project in the short timeframe of the month of December. There was 500 square feet of wallpaper requiring treatment, requiring a specific coding system to map the damage efficiently.
Surface cleaning was completed using goat-hair brushes and latex-free makeup sponges. The fragments were carefully cleaned, and cracks were cleaned with the makeup sponges and Absorene chemical absorbing sponges. McMann remarked on the effectiveness of this, allowing the cracks to recede into the overall aesthetic of the wall.
Delaminated wallpaper was re-adhered to the wall with a very dry wheat starch paste, gouges were pulp-filled, smoothed, and toned, and if necessary, damaged plaster was filled.
Losses were divided by size, so that medium – large losses were filled with the digitally printed reproduction papers, and small losses were filled with papers that were toned with watercolour. Using this coding system, more than 600 infills and 63 losses/abrasions were completed and treated! Three rounds of proofing were used to produce a quality output of the reproductive wallpaper paper, and the printed paper was split mechanically while damp as the reproduction paper was thick overall and chamfering was not possible. All fills were first done with toned Japanese tissue, in order to ensure a sympathetic colour if abrasions were to occur again, as the area will remain used as storage space after stabilization. The large losses required precise alignment before they were trimmed, and a combination of methyl cellulose and wheat starch paste was used to adhere and to allow for some slip during alignment.
Final toning was done using acrylics and a number of different light sources, to ensure compatibility to the viewer.
McMann presented the challenges and problem-solving techniques needed for the completion of the project to the very interested audience. She guided us through the stabilization of the servants’ area, noting its imortance to the Spadina (Spa-deenah or Spa-dinah depending on your class status in the nineteenth century!) Museum, as they have gained the title of being “Toronto’s Downton Abbey” and have exhibited costumes from the popular BBC drama.
44th Annual Meeting – Textiles Session, May 16, "A Material Disaster: Preservation of the Muppets,” by Sunae Park Evans
Dear Children of the ‘80s and ‘90s,
Fear not, our childhood has been well preserved. You may have been concerned to hear our Muppet friends were suffering from the ill effects of aging and, I’ll be honest, the diagnosis (and the pictures!) seemed grim. Internal decay, failing support structures, foam hemorrhages, and alopecia were just some of the concerns. Fortunately Sunae Park Evans, Senior Costume Conservator at the National Museum of American History, was up to the challenge.
From both clinical and personal standpoints, the scope of the treatment was fascinating and produced some strangely existential questions. What makes a Muppet a Muppet? Where do you draw the line between replaceable miscellany and canonical Muppet accoutrements? And then, once you determine what is essential to Jim Henson’s original creations, how do you fit conservation techniques geared towards human costumes to a creation where the only human shape is Jim Henson’s arms and hands? With close consultation with original member of the Muppet design team Bonnie Erickson, Ms. Evans was able to navigate these questions while maintaining the integrity of the Jim Henson Legacy.
It may surprise you that puppets so seemingly innocent could have so many inherent vices. First there is the issue of the primary material, Scott Foam, which is a staple in puppeteering for its flexibility. However, the answer to the question of, “What is Scott Foam made of?” was repeatedly, “Scott Foam.” After speaking with several employees of the manufacturer, Ms. Evans was able to confirm that it was a low-density polyurethane which explained the large-scale deterioration and degradation of the Muppet’s internal structure, leading to the loss and collapse of other features. Polyurethane wasn’t the only material at issue as the Muppets were designed more for budget than longevity and featured attachments such as soup spoons and ping pong balls for eyes and leather shoe soles for the mouth. It was determined that much of the foam would have to be removed, leaving only the heads still intact, but the fabrics, facial features, and other appendages would be maintained as much as possible.
Next is the matter of how to classify and treat a movable, usable object used by humans that are not human but emote like a human. Is it a stationary object, costume, installation, or kinetic sculpture? Ms. Evans stated that she struggled greatly with the question and it seems the answer lies somewhere in the middle of all of them. She was able to use standard costume conservation materials and techniques to create the very non-standard forms shown below. By using the jointed base structure she was able to allow for the potential of movement and by padding them out with Ethafoam she was able to customize each form as one would for a costume. Once each Muppet was mounted on its new support and positioned in keeping with its unique personality, Ms. Evans and Ms. Erickson reviewed the new display but something was still off. It turns out that because the Muppets were made to be viewed on screen, they must also be considered as a 2D image. Many of our enigmatic friends were only made to be viewed from a specific camera angle. The Swedish Chef, for example, was always filmed at a downward angle so when he was positioned to be viewed straight-on, the resulting image did not match that from our childhood memories.
What won’t come as a surprise is that Miss Piggy remained a diva. The structure of the current Miss Piggy was still several decades old and the screws holding her together had rusted closed. Only the careful and intuitive navigation of Ms. Erickson, Miss Piggy’s original creator, were the conservators able to cut the joints without disrupting the remaining support and recreate the body with archival materials.
One of my favorite parts of any project is getting to know the object being treated and I was happy to know that Ms. Evans not only spent countless, tireless hours watching The Muppet Show, but also that she remained in constant communication with the Muppets, themselves, during the treatment. With creatures so full of life it’s not hard to imagine they’d have much to say.
*All images are of the PowerPoint slideshow presented by Sunae Park Evans.
Joint 44th AIC Annual Meeting & 42nd CAC ACCR Annual Conference – Electronic Media Session, May 15, "Re-Constructions: Preserving the Video Installations of Buky Schwartz" by Eddy Colloton
With new media, traditional exhibition and conservation practices are constantly challenged. Eddy Colloton, MA student, Moving Image Archiving and Preservation at NYU, addressed such relationship in his talk Re-Constructions: Preserving the Video Installations of Buky Schwartz. This artist uses electronic media to explore the physical space and the relationship created with its viewers. As the presenter states, Buky Schwartz “focuses on the nature of perspective and perception.”
Indeed, amongst his work, many allow interaction between the physical space and a virtual representation of the totality of the piece. The viewers may become a part of the work and create a relationship that feeds the assistance of the electronic components. As Three angles, 1986, where viewers may enter the maze and use the assistance of the monitors to find the exit of the installation. In the original exhibition, CRT monitors were used. In a later iteration, they were replaced with flat screens and was presented in a smaller space. Schwartz’s work offers flexibility in its representation in accordance that perspective is not loss and the original intent is respected.
Physical and virtual spaces are dependant since they offer a complete perspective when combined. Eddy Colloton explains that to fully understand the works, they must be exhibited. Unlike more traditional mediums, whether in storage or in their exhibition area, they remain physically the same (or so we strive to achieve such state). Buky Schwartz constructs works that are comprehensive with the electronic component like the exhibit Painted projection, 1977 and work Yellow triangles, 1992. Other examples of such relationship: Spring 1981 and Fall 1981, from the same year also follow the idea that they must be exhibited to be experienced.
The challenge with exhibition of new media work is the inevitable iteration at every exhibition. As Colloton explains, perception was important for this artist and he made sure to document his thought process and artistic decisions. A reference to Pip Laurenson’s concept of score is crucial for the preservation of new media work. It gives indications on how to present and interpret the work and allow viewers to experience it. It gives guidelines for the curator and conservator at each new exhibition, it is an iteration of the original/first presentation of the work.
As it commonly occurs for living new media artists, Schwartz worked closely with the curators and conservators. He was also very organized in his planning where he would carefully calculate algorithms, make blueprints, provide installation manuals and construct prototypes for many of this works. The indications would also clarify the equipment selection and document camera use for some specific installations. This would be useful in making informed decisions for conservation purposes. The artist’s estate passed to his daughter and son-in-law, which his documentation helped in the identification of the materials and comprehensive understanding of his perspective on his work.
The completeness of the score and careful documentation are still put to great use in efforts for conservation. Some video installations may appear less “conservative” like Painted projection as they require shapes to be painted on the walls and floors to be constructed with the help of a recording device.
Joanna Phillips puts nicely that in conservation: we become interpreters, mediators or even co-producers of time-based media artwork. I believe that Eddy Colloton communicated the essence of this through his talk.
The Estate of Artist Buky Schwartz
Authenticity, Change and Loss in the Conservation of Time-Based Media Installations by Pip Laurenson
Reporting Iterations: A Documentation Model for Time-Based Media Art by Joanna Phillips
Joint 44th AIC Annual Meeting and 42nd CAC-ACCR Annual Conference — Paintings Session, May 15th — "The Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy — Rescue and Treatment" by Carolyn Tomkiewicz and Caitlin Breare
Carolyn Tomkiewicz’s presentation began with a photo of a modest statue of Mary in the garden of a local church. It had been wrapped up against the oncoming storm—not by conservators, but by mindful parishioners. This protection had more in common with how you shield a plant from frost than how a museum usually guards against damage, but their effort and conscientiousness was rewarded when the statue survived the flood unscathed, a reveal that Tomkiewicz ended the talk with. These photos opened and closed the talk as a demonstration of how a community’s response, as much as a conservator’s response, is vital to the protection of the art in their midst.
Tomkiewicz begins at Westbeth Artists Residence, where studios and storage spaces in the basement were swiftly subsumed by the nearby and overflowing Hudson. When the artists were granted access ten days later, the salvage efforts began immediately. The rescue team—composed of the artists themselves, volunteers from AIC-CERT (Collection Emergency Response Team), and local conservation studios—took over the building’s courtyard and turned it into a makeshift triage center. Salvage operations rely on ingenuity: the team MacGyvered door screens into paper drying racks, applied toilet paper as facing for damaged paintings, used puppy training pads as blotters, and when faced with the unappealing prospect of leaving art unattended overnight, they stored as much as they could in a rental truck that they could lock up. Gaining access to indoor spaces at Westbeth improved the security of the artwork. However, as triage operations continued, more and more objects were brought to the team to be treated. The extent of the work to be done in those first few days never seemed to diminish, but the crew pressed on, even addressing the residents’ personal items as well as their art.
The Westbeth example typified an important part of the success of the Sandy response: educating artists on triage procedures to save their own artwork. This education came through including artists in the conservator-led salvage efforts as well as many informational sessions—specifically a well-attended public presentation at MoMA—and online support forums and resources. That AIC-CERT’s involvement was assisted by private conservators, public museums, and even conservation vendors who donated supplies, was what really propelled the Sandy response to be come an example of effective salvage outreach. Of course, few places worldwide rival the level of cultural saturation as Manhattan, but even cities and towns without MoMA should be able to construct a scaled-down version of this type of unified response within the local arts community.
The opening of the Cultural Recovery Center (CRC) in Brooklyn, run by FAIC to provide in-depth treatment at a secure facility, was the culmination of the volunteer effort to restore art after the devastation of Superstorm Sandy. Tomkiewicz discussed the treatment of three heavily deformed and flaking oil on canvas paintings at the CRC that required gradual-tensioning stretchers, humidity chambers, and a burnt-finger technique which utilized a lightbulb as the convex heat source. Given the type of damage Sandy left behind, she devoted special attention to the variety of ways to re-tension water distorted canvases, including Rigamonti stretchers and a “Gleitrahmen” (sliding frame) technique. Details of the treatments were published in the WAAC Newsletter Volume 35, Number 2 of May 2013, “A Tensioning Device for the Reduction of Severe Planar Distortions in Paintings,” by Carolyn Tomkiewicz.
She concluded her talk with the following advice: don’t store art in the basement in a flood zone!
Joint 44th AIC Annual Meeting and 42nd CAC-ACCR Annual Conference — Paintings Session, May 17th — "Using Web-Based Projects to Promote Conservation and Engage Diverse Audiences" by Kristin DeGhetaldi and Brian Baade
Thanks to museums that publicize our projects and the growing acceptance of on-site treatments, conservation is increasingly in the public eye. But these efforts can only reach so many people, and they tend to be temporary events or installations. Nowadays, we have a way to spread information to the interested reader, however far away they might be, and to archive information for far longer than is usually possible in the physical world. Thus, the question becomes: since knowledge can be disseminated and stored this way, if it can’t be accessed that way, does that research really exist?
Hence, the growing importance of a conservation project website.
First to be discussed is the Kress Technical Art History website (artcons.udel.edu/about/kress). The site approaches a discussion of conservation by focusing on an in-depth exploration of methods and techniques, built around the painting reconstructions completed by Kristin and Brian. Each reconstruction has a section of the website, with a different page for each layer of the painting, but they also have a physical life that also educates: The originals are distributed to museums along with pigment kits, to be used as didactic tools in museum galleries. The website has additional informational pages that cover historical materials and techniques, examination and scientific methods, a vocabulary primer, and links to other resources, including painting reconstructions done by other people. The depth of the website is frankly astounding, as every page seems to link to more detail and further research: from the Historical Methods/Techniques, you can click “inorganic pigments” and find a slideshow of the raw materials being prepared, a PDF of a chronological list of pigment usage, and a link to a video showing the extraction of lapis lazuli. Not only is this a valuable resource for anyone diving into historical painting techniques, but interested pre-programmers will find its resources invaluable for Winterthur’s “copy, reproduction or reconstruction” portfolio requirement.
The second project to be covered was the two-year conservation of the monumental Triumph of David at Villanova. The project’s website (thetriumphofdavid.com) combines not only a timeline of the treatment but a walkthrough of its restoration steps, in-depth reporting on the scientific analysis done, and the ability to view different stages of work and analysis as segments of the whole image. Kristin pointed out that while many institutions are wary of publicizing such sensitive information about the state of their artwork, the Triumph had literally no reputation to uphold: its original assessment had marked it as an insurance loss. The transparency of the Triumph project is refreshing: discussing the decision-making process behind each step and explaining current methodologies. The website is an experiment in laying out a painting’s history on the table, pointing out where there’s room for more research, and inviting the next participants to the table.
Kristin closed the talk with the introduction of MITRA (Materials Information and Technical Resource for Artists). Conceived as a revival of the much-missed AMIEN forum, it will connect artists, conservators, scientists, and educators to discuss best practices. As an interactive forum, hopefully it will become a well of expertise to draw upon when confronted with the misinformation that plagues much of the internet. Though the forum will initially focus on paintings, it will expand as it grows to cover a wide range of topics—wider than its predecessor—including contemporary art materials and concerns, textiles, sculpture, storage, murals, photography, and whatever else the public clamors for, I expect. It will be hosted by the University of Delaware when it is launched, hopefully in the Fall of 2016.
44th Annual AIC Meeting- Textile Session, May 16th, Assessing Collection Emergency Training and Response: The Risks of Adrenaline.
The paper presented by Lois Price and Joelle Wickens examined current training techniques implemented at the Winterthur University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC) and their evolution to take into account the role of adrenaline in disaster response.
Initial training consisted of rotations through the different labs and discussions of possible issues before stepping up to muck up drills. The results of this training was mixed, showing that participants were able to recover objects, but that assessment of the materials before their movement was compromised as the goal became more a mission to get objects out of harms way and less about documentation and evaluation.
With this knowledge in hand, training methods were reassessed to try and bring assessment to the forefront; as good assessment aids in the long term success of disaster recovery.
The new method of approach looked to combine soft training, ie discussions in a classroom setting with an assessment only drill followed by a wet artifact recovery training session.
This ordering of training allowed first for discussions of all rolls in a disaster response plan, in a controlled environment without the risk of adrenaline. It forced holistic thinking of an entire situation.
The assessment workshop placed students is a mock disaster and forced assessment only of objects, no recovery. It was crafted to include numerous object issues, as well as registration issues that all should be taken into account during the recovery process. By increasing the complexity of the objects that students were assessing the importance of documentation and registration processes were reinforced. This reinforcement helped strengthen the importance of the assessment process in students’ minds and drive home that without through assessment good recovery is almost impossible.
After the assessment drill wet object recovery training further reinforced this training. Objects were first assed while dry before they were wetted out, reassessed, and then the training on handling was done. Students were then given unseen objects; removing the opportunity for the first assessment and introducing the students to the object in “trouble”.
This method of training helped students to see the importance of assessment and clarified the fact that slowing down is truly the key to effective response.
This talk was fascinating for me after being brought in for disaster recovery at the Glasgow School of Art during my final year of graduate school. In analyzing what went on with the materials in that situation and listen to the training techniques used at WUDPAC, I can say with some confidence that such training would have made me better prepared for that situation. While nothing can truly prepare you for the real thing, the repetition on the importance of assessment is helping prepare the students for situations we can hope they never have to face, but if they do, they may enter with an idea of how to initially respond.