ECPN – AIC Blog Archives: Conservators Converse

ECPN Interviews: Wooden Artifacts Conservation with Caite Sofield

To promote awareness and a clearer understanding of different pathways into specializations that require particular training, the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) has been conducting a series of interviews with conservation professionals in various specialties. We began the series with Chinese and Japanese painting conservation and continued the series by focusing on practitioners working with Electronic Media. Now, we are interviewing conservation professionals working in AIC’s Wooden Artifact Group (WAG). These conservators work with various wooden objects, which can range from furniture, musical instruments, waterlogged wood, frames, and more! We’ve asked our interviewees to share some thoughts about their career paths, hoping to inspire new conservation professionals and provide valuable insight into these areas of our professional field.

In our first interview from the WAG series, we spoke with Caite Sofield, a third year fellow in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC). Caite is specializing in Furniture Conservation, and she is also a graduate intern in Furniture Conservation at The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA). She received a Bachelor of Art in Italian Studies from Ithaca College, with a double minor in Art History and Classical Studies.

ECPN: Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Caite Sofield (CS): I am a third year graduate fellow in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC), specializing in Furniture Conservation. I am completing my internship year in Furniture Conservation at The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA). I graduated from Ithaca with a B.A. in Italian Studies, and a double minor in Art History and Classical Studies. I grew up in New Hampshire and did much of my pre-program work in the New England area.

ECPN: How were you first introduced to conservation, and why did you decide to pursue conservation?

CS: My first introduction to conservation was during an undergraduate internship in London at the Leighton House Museum. Organized through the Art History Department of Ithaca College, my internship was divided between assisting the Curator of Collections and Research and working with a Conservation Cleaner in the Linley Sanbourne House, a historic property also managed by LHM. I found this work dynamic and compelling, and was surprised to discover that I learned as much (if not more) about history from working in the house and on the objects than I did in my associated art history course. I was so excited to connect with history in this tangible way, and I knew that I wanted to seek similar experiences in the future.

ECPN: Of all specializations, what contributed to your decision to pursue furniture conservation?

CS: Furniture conservation appealed to me because furniture, as a subsection of decorative arts, can include a wide variety of materials, and there is a wonderful overlap between architecture, textiles, and objects. I love seeing the way the intended function of an object affects its design and how that changes over time. I am particularly fond of the forms that are highly specific and representative of a small window in time, like the voyeuse of the 18th century and the telephone table of the 20th century.

ECPN: What has been your training pathway? Please list any universities, apprenticeships, technical experience, and any related jobs or hobbies.

CS: After my introduction to conservation in my junior year at Ithaca College, I began researching conservation programs and the prerequisites. I was only one course away from completing my degree requirements in Italian Studies at the time, so I used my available electives to start checking off the required courses I hadn’t taken yet, including the studio art and chemistry courses. In my senior year, the heads of the Chemistry and Art History departments teamed up to teach a course called Chemistry and Art. This was a great overview of how much science affects art and gave me great perspective on why I needed to take chemistry courses to continue in the conservation field.

I continued working through the pre-reqs by completing non-degree coursework at St. Anselm College and the University of New Hampshire, near my hometown, while working as a veterinary assistant part-full time. Because I knew I was interested in furniture conservation, I sought out woodworking courses to fill the 3-dimensional design requirements. I did weekend and evening workshops, and a 10-week Furniture Making Intensive at the Homestead Woodworking School in Newmarket, NH. Later in my pre-program path, I took the 12-week Furniture Intensive at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, ME.

My first pre-program internship was in the furniture lab at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. After that, I worked on an Asian lacquer project and outdoor sculpture at the Preservation Society of Newport County. I volunteered at the New Hampshire Historical Society for a few months, documenting and re-housing embroidery samplers. I returned to Newport for another six months to continue work on the outdoor sculpture project. My final pre-program internship was at the Collections Conservation Branch of the National Park Service.

While in the WUDPAC program, I have interned at the Furniture/Wooden Artifacts Lab of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and worked on archaeological documentation of furniture and architectural fragments of the Swedish battleship, Vasa, at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.

ECPN: Are there any particular skills that you feel are important or unique to your discipline? Can one solely be a ‘wooden artifact conservator,’ or is knowledge of composites and how to treat other materials inherent to the work?

CS: Knowledge of wood science and woodworking skills are hugely important to furniture conservation, as wood is the predominant material you will come across on a day-to-day basis. I suppose one could solely be a ‘wooden artifact conservator’ if the collection needs supported it, but I am really interested in furniture more broadly, and for that, you need to have a working knowledge of other materials and surface techniques (ie: gilding, metals, leather and other organics, and stone). Because of the diverse materials a furniture conservator can encounter, I have actively sought out institutions with encyclopedic collections or projects that may indirectly relate to furniture to broaden my exposure.

ECPN: What are some of your current projects, research, or interests?

CS: I am working on two painted architectural panels from a period room at the PMA, which comprises painted wall paneling from a 17^th century Parisian house. They were removed from exhibition so that we could replace degrading 1950’s era silk wall coverings. Upon deinstallation, we discovered that one panel had structural damage from weakened wood around an undocumented repair. In addition to the treatment, the curator would also like to have some technical analysis completed to begin the process of researching all of the painted paneling in the room. One of my favorite parts of working in an active lab in a very busy museum is that there are always new and interesting projects coming through or unexpectedly popping up!

One wall of the gallery with the degrading silk (left). The same wall with the new fabric and trim. (right). [Photos: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art by Jason Wierzbicki.]

ECPN: In your opinion, what is an important research area or need in your specialization?

CS: As I mentioned before, I am fascinated by the way that function affects design in the furniture field but also how changes in technology influenced changes in design. I love how the use of tubular steel in the Bauhaus movement revolutionized furniture production and how the development of foam technologies all but eliminated tradition horsehair and sprung upholstery. There has been plenty of research into the care and treatment of these materials, but it’s an area that I personally would like to explore further.

One of the small panels taken down for treatment and technical examination. [Photo: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art by Jason Wierzbicki.]

ECPN: Do you have any advice for prospective emerging conservators who would like to pursue this specialization?

CS: That is a tough question. In most regards furniture conservation is like any other specialty, but I think one thing I’ve learned is the value of trying other things and all specialties. As I reflect on my pre-program experience and approach the end of my graduate program, I am struck by how each of my classmates thrive in their respective specialties; what seems routine for them is awe-inspiring for me, and vice versa. By exploring other specialties (and other career paths) I have found an area that fits. I love historic costumes, but thread counts and invisible stitches make my head hurt. I had a blast working on outdoor sculpture, but the science of stone is really confusing to me. When I talk about a structural repair, or I am dealing with tented veneers, my classmates are overwhelmed. But, by working in different specialties and learning as much as I can within the field, I can appreciate the skill and knowledge of others and know where to look, or to whom to turn, when I run into a material with which I am less familiar.

ECPN: Please share any last thoughts or reflections.

CS: I found it very useful to have woodworking experience before I started the WUDPAC program. It is no longer a requirement of admission as a furniture major, nor do you have to declare a major at the time of admission; however, if it something you are drawn to, having some of those skills in hand will be advantageous down the line. One doesn’t have to be a master craftsman to conserve objects, but a working knowledge of techniques and troubleshooting will only help in care and treatment decisions.

*Featured image: Caite during the installation of new fabric in the gallery. [Photo: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art by Jason Wierzbicki.]

ECPN Profile on Riley the Museum Dog at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ECPN had the opportunity to speak with Nicki Luongo, head of Protective Services at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to learn more about a very special four-legged volunteer at the MFA.

Riley the Museum Dog

1. Riley-the-dog-at-the-Museum-of-Fine-Arts-Boston — Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

· Occupation: MFA Volunteer

· Credentials: American Kennel Club S.T.A.R. Puppy program graduate

· Birthday: October 14, 2017

· Ear length: 5”

· Favorite MFA artwork: Hugo and Brenda! (Pair of Great Danes, 1907 by Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington. On view in the Calderwood Courtyard)

· Favorite pastime: Rope tug

4. Riley-the-dog-at-the-Museum-of-Fine-Arts-Boston — Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ECPN: How did the idea to hire a dog come about in the first place, and does Riley have any special qualities that might make him better than other dogs at helping with integrated pest management (IPM)?

Nicki Luongo (NL): Discussions between the Conservation and the Department of Protective Services began in fall 2017. Weimaraners are very intelligent and have an incredible sense of smell. Riley’s duties as a scent dog at the MFA are well suited to his breed!

ECPN: Have you trained dogs for service or nose work before?

NL: In my spare time I’ve trained working K9’s for many years, so it’s exciting to be able to apply these training skills with Riley to work with the MFA’s conservation team.

ECPN: How many hours a week is Riley expected to be “on duty”?

NL: Once Riley’s completed his training, he’ll be on duty as needed.

ECPN: Who cares for Riley on his off-hours? And what are his favorite activities outside of “work”?

NL: Riley lives with me and loves to play hide and seek, rope tug and nap in his free time.

ECPN: How does Riley’s role fit into the MFA’s larger IPM strategy? What other IPM tactics does the MFA currently employ and how will Riley’s role supplement and enhance these protocols?

NL: In addition to the current conservation protocols we have in place, Riley will act as an additional layer in protecting the Museum’s collection. His extremely sensitive nose can be trained to detect the presence of pests that are hidden from plain view.

7. Riley-the-dog-at-the-Museum-of-Fine-Arts-Boston — Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ECPN would like to extend sincere thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for the paw-some opportunity to learn more about Riley. For more information on Riley, visit his page on the MFA’s website: https://www.mfa.org/about/riley-the-museum-dog

2018-2019 Open Officer Positions for the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network: Call for Applications

Are you an emerging conservation professional who wants to advocate for the issues that matter most to you and your peers? Do you want to help AIC develop resources and programs specifically for early-career conservators, conservation scientists, and collections care specialists? If so, please consider applying for one of the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network’s (ECPN) open officer positions! To learn more about the network, please visit the ECPN page on the American Institute for Conservation website. Our Network description, charge, and current leadership can be found here.

ECPN is currently accepting applications from pre-program individuals, graduate students, and recent graduates for the following positions:

Vice Chair
Professional Education and Training Officer
Outreach Officer
Communications Officer

Please see the following document for position descriptions: 2018-ECPN_Open_Position_Descriptions. All positions will serve a two-year term beginning June 2018, just after AIC’s 46th Annual Meeting.

The Vice Chair is expected serve a one-year term, transitioning to Chair for an additional one-year term. No previous ECPN experience is necessary to apply. The current ECPN Vice Chair, Kari Rayner, is available to discuss this position over email or the phone.

Please direct questions to Kari Rayner at ecpn.aic.vicechair@gmail.com. To apply for an open officer position, please submit a brief statement of interest and your resume to Kari by April 13, 2018.

ECPN Interviews: Electronic Media Conservation with Christine Frohnert

To promote awareness and a clearer understanding of different pathways into specializations that require particular training, The Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) is conducting a series of interviews with conservation professionals in these specialties. We kicked off the series with Chinese and Japanese Painting conservation, and now we are focusing on Electronic Media Conservation (EMG). These conservators work with time-based media, which is characterized by artwork with durational elements, such as slide, film, and video, analog or born-digital materials, performance, light or kinetic art, sound or software-based art. We’ve asked our interviewees to share some thoughts about their career paths, which we hope will inspire new conservation professionals and provide valuable insight into these areas of our professional field.

In the first interviews for this series, we spoke with emerging conservators starting in the early stages of their careers working in time-based media, which included Alexandra Nichols, Nicholas Kaplan, Brian Castriota and Yasmin Desssem. In this interview, we hear from Christine Frohnert, a conservator who graduated in 2003 from the University of Arts in Berne, Switzerland, where she majored in the Conservation of Modern Materials and Media. Prior to establishing a private practice for Time-based Media (TBM) with colleague Reinhard Bek, Christine served as chief conservator at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany for twelve years and as chair of the AIC Electronic Media Group from 2008-2012. In 2012, she was named the inaugural Judith Praska Distinguished Visiting Professor in Conservation and Technical Studies at the Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (CC/IFA/NYU), where she now serves as the Time-based Media Art Conservation Curriculum Development Program Coordinator.

______________________________________________________________________________

Christine Frohnert and Reinhard Bek [Photo: Reinhard Bek]

ECPN: Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your current position.

Christine Frohnert (CF): I am a conservator of contemporary art with a specific focus on technology-based art. Reinhard Bek and I founded Bek & Frohnert LLC in NYC in 2012- a conservation studio in private practice specializing in the conservation of time-based media (TBM). We are both German, have been trained in Europe, worked in leading positions in museums, and have been involved in international research projects.

Bek and I focus on the conservation of artworks with a durational element in our practice—such as sound, moving image, performance, light, or movement, that unfolds to the viewer over time via slide, film, video, software, or the internet. Since the studio’s inauguration, we have responded to individual needs for both TBM conservation treatments and consulting requests. However, over the last several years, we have experienced a rising demand to serve as consultants for different U.S. institutions without time-based media conservators on staff, as well as for collectors and artists. As many TBM art collecting institutions are facing rapidly increasing needs to adequately acquire, preserve, exhibit and store TBM works, we are responding to this development and our work is more geared towards long-term collection care and the development of preservation plans, as well as education.

ECPN: How were you first introduced to conservation, what contributed to your decision to specialize in time-based media, and why has been your training pathway?

CF: As with most of my colleagues, I started conservation being exposed to more traditional media such as paintings and sculpture. About 20 years ago, I realized that technology-based artworks can be seriously harmed or lost without a new conservation specialty being established. I became fascinated with TBM, and I learned about the newly established program ‘Conservation of Modern Materials and Media’ at the University of Arts, Berne, Switzerland. I graduated from there in 2003.

ECPN: Are there any particular skills that you feel are important or unique to your discipline?

Christine Frohnert [Photo: Marlies Peller]

CF: A complex range of skill sets are needed, which should be solidly grounded in the conceptual framework of contemporary art conservation as a whole. It requires knowledge in electrics/electronics and programming, and an in-depth understanding of each media category, technology and its preservation, documentation and digital preservation needs. As our profession is highly collaborative by nature, soft skills are equally important to collaborate with all the stakeholders in the institutions involved, as well as with affiliated external professionals such as engineers, computer scientists, and technicians. This is important when defining, communicating, and verifying goals with vendors.

As many museums recently formed or are currently forming ‘Media Teams’ in their respective institutions to tackle their individual TBM collections needs, we have witnessed a rapidly increasing need for skilled labor, dedicated TBM lab space, equipment, and the trustworthy storage and management of huge amounts of born-digital or digitized artworks.

ECPN: What are some of your current projects, research, or interests?

CF: Currently our recent projects include consultation with several institutions to analyze their TBM collections and develop custom-designed conservation strategies according to their individual collections needs and skill sets of staff. These consultations may include surveys, assistance with media acquisitions, exhibitions and artwork documentation, storage, and migration. Bringing in external expertise often provides the bridge that many museums and their TBM stakeholders do not find in-house or do not have the capacity to coordinate. This work helps to identify and structure these needs more clearly and often provides the basis for institutional development and the implementation of larger collection care projects.

Recent and current treatment-based activities range from analyzing the ‘mechanical’ programming of a light-based work, the conservation of a seven channel-video wall from 1998 consisting of 207 Cathode Ray Tube monitors, digitization of analog video, and the reverse engineering of custom-designed large format slide projectors, to name a few.

Cathode Ray Tube monitor [Photo: Marlies Peller]

ECPN: In your opinion, what is an important need in your specialization?

CF: the most pressing need is education. Technology-based art is considered to be very sensitive to damage, loss, misinterpretation, and incorrect installation, due to its very specific and sensitive relationship to time, space, and concept. Damage or loss of a TBM work cannot be seen by simply examining the physical material and may not be immediately apparent unless the individual has received specialized training.

TBM conservation has been identified as a priority by many museums, collectors, and funding agencies. However, the educational opportunities are still limited, and there is currently no U.S. graduate program offering a degree in this specialty (but this will change soon!). As a result, a huge amount of our most recent cultural heritage is at risk, in an unknown condition, and/or not sufficiently integrated into museums’ missions of collecting, exhibition, conservation, research, and education.

However, thanks to the generous funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, started the TBM art conservation curriculum planning project in 2016.The new TBM specialization will be integrated within its current curriculum starting in fall 2018. This will be the first conservation program offering this specialty in the U.S. and the graduates will receive a dual degree: an MS in the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and an MA in the History of Art and Archaeology.

ECPN: Have you been involved in any advocacy, outreach, teaching or professional service roles in your specialization?

CF: During my time as EMG (Electronic Media Group) board Chair from 2008-2012, we received numerous request from the membership to offer continuing education opportunities, and in response EMG launched the conference series entitled TechFocus in 2010. The series is designed to provide hands-on guidance and systematic education on different media categories (TechFocus I: Caring for Video Art, Guggenheim Museum, NY, in 2010; TechFocus II: Caring for Film and Slide Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, 2012; TechFocus III: Caring for Software-based Art, Guggenheim Museum, NY, in 2015). In addition, the first periodical worldwide that focuses on TBM art conservation was launched by the EMG in 2012, The Electronic Media Review.

At the (CC/IFA/NYU) I have offered instruction in TBM conservation art in different capacities, including the course Art With A Plug: The Conservation of Artwork Containing Motion, Sound, Light, Moving Images and Interactivity (Fall 2012 and Spring 2015).

Several professional organizations and initiatives have created additional targeted educational opportunities and collaborations. However, despite all these good developments, further training is needed at the graduate level, as well as in continuing education for professionals, to address the fast-increasing demands of TBM conservation.

Under the leadership of Dr. Hannelore Roemich, Professor of Conservation Science and TBM program Director, I have also served as TBM Program Coordinator to assist in identifying skill sets and core competencies of TBM conservators that translate into the educational needs to develop a TBM curriculum. In the fall of 2016 the Conservation Center offered the course and public lecture series Topics in Time-based Media Art Conservation, which included ten lectures by leading art historians, artists, computer scientists, and conservators. These events were an important outreach component of the curriculum development project, and they created the opportunity to promote the field, foster the dialogue between TBM professionals, and build a community.

We are now organizing the upcoming symposium It’s About Time! Building a New Discipline: Time-based Media Art Conservation to be held in May 2018. The two-day symposium will provide a forum for educators, artists, art historians, museum curators and directors, collectors, gallerists, engineers, computer scientists, and conservators to promote TBM art conservation as a discipline on an international level and will conclude the TBM curriculum planning phase.

ECPN: Do you have any advice for prospective emerging conservators who would like to pursue this specialization?

Cathode Ray Tube monitor [Photo: Christine Frohnert]

CF: While I am not comfortable issuing general advice, I can say that I personally appreciate working with students and colleagues in our field, and that this has shaped and enriched my professional life. If you are a strong communicator who is interested in the intersection of art and technology, art conservation, and art history– and maybe you even have a background in one or more of the related media fields–why don’t you join the EMG sessions at the AIC annual meetings and/or attend the upcoming NYU symposium to engage with the TBM community and find out if this specialty may be just the right fit for you?

ECPN: Please share any last thoughts or reflections.

CF: We currently see an extremely high demand for trained TBM conservators. This can be measured by the exponentially increasing job offers worldwide and the challenges many institutions face to find qualified candidates. So, it is safe to say that this is the best moment in time for becoming a TBM conservator in this country. If you are interested in pursuing a career in TBM conservation- check out the new TBM curriculum page at the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts at NYU.

ECPN Interviews: Electronic Media Conservation with Brian Castriota

To promote awareness and a clearer understanding of different pathways into specializations that require particular training, the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) is conducting a series of interviews with conservation professionals in these specialties. We kicked off the series with Chinese and Japanese painting conservation, and now we are focusing on practitioners in AIC’s Electronic Media Group (EMG). These conservators work with time-based media, which can include moving components, performance, light or sound elements, film and video, analog or born-digital materials. We’ve asked our interviewees to share some thoughts about their career paths, which we hope will inspire new conservation professionals and provide valuable insight into these areas of our professional field.

Previous posts in ECPN’s EMG blog series include interviews with Yasmin Dessem, Alex Nichols, and Nick Kaplan. In this installment we hear from Brian Castriota, a conservator specialized in the conservation of time-based media and contemporary art. Brian holds a Master’s degree in Art History and a Certificate in Conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU where he graduated in 2014. He worked as a contract conservator for time-based media artworks at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and was a Samuel H. Kress Fellow in Time-Based Media Conservation at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. He is currently a Research Fellow in the Conservation of Contemporary Art at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Glasgow within the research program “New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art” (NACCA) – a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network.

Brian Castriota documenting the artist-modified turntables used in Susan Philipsz’s installation “Seven Tears” (2016) at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. [Photo: B. Castriota]

ECPN: Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Brian Castriota (BC): My name is Brian Castriota, I’m a conservator of time-based media and contemporary art. I’m currently working on a Ph.D. at the University of Glasgow within the EU-funded research initiative “New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art” (NACCA).

ECPN: How were you first introduced to conservation, and why did you decide to pursue conservation?

BC: Both of my parents are art historians and my mother worked as a museum curator and director for many years, first at Duke University and later Amherst College. I spent a lot of my childhood backstage in museum storage around artworks and artifacts from all periods, which I think was probably a very formative experience for me. Something resonated with me in the kinds of interactions I observed conservators have with museum objects, their unique expertise about the material fabric and production history of these objects, as well as their profound sense of responsibility in ensuring their continuity.

Backing-up and verifying file integrity of audiovisual material on artist-supplied carriers in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. [Photo: B. Castriota]

ECPN: Of all specializations, what contributed to your decision to pursue electronic media conservation?

BC: I think I have always felt a draw towards “obsolete” equipment, media and technologies; I was an avid record collector in my adolescence, studied color darkroom photography in college, and I have a small collection of vintage analog synthesizers. I first became aware of electronic media conservation as a sub-specialism of art conservation after starting in the conservation masters program at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. Christine Frohnert was of course a big inspiration for me – her enthusiasm and passion for time-based media conservation was absolutely contagious, and she really gave me the confidence to pursue this pathway and specialization. Joanna Phillips was also instrumental in providing me with the practical training to become a time-based media conservator in my fourth-year internship and subsequent fellowship at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

ECPN: What has been your training pathway? Please list any universities, apprenticeships, technical experience, and any related jobs or hobbies.

BC: My training pathway has by no means been straight and narrow. I concentrated in studio arts at Sarah Lawrence College where I did my Bachelor’s degree. During my junior year abroad in Florence, Italy I took a year-long course on painting conservation which confirmed my interest in pursuing master’s-level training in conservation. Upon returning to New York I interned in the Photographs Conservation department of the Met for a summer. After I graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 2009 I worked for a paper conservator in private practice for a year while I completed the rest of my lab science requirements for grad school. During my time at the IFA I specialized in the conservation of objects and archaeological materials. I took every opportunity to work on their affiliated excavations, including three consecutive summers with the Harvard-Cornell Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, and NYU’s excavations at Selinunte and Abydos.

After taking Christine Frohnert’s seminar “Art With a Plug” in my third year I devoted my thesis research to examining the significance of CRT video projectors in Diana Thater’s early video installations. I then split my fourth year internship between the Artefacts Conservation section of the National Galleries of Scotland and the Time-Based Media Conservation Lab at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Upon graduating I was fortunate to work for a few months at the Smithsonian American Art Museum on their time-based media art collection, and afterwards returned to the Guggenheim for a Samuel H. Kress Fellowship in Time-Based Media Conservation before I started my Ph.D. at the University of Glasgow.

ECPN: Are there any particular skills that you feel are important or unique to your discipline?

BC: I find that time-based media art conservation requires a very unique combination of skills: a sound knowledge of modern and contemporary art history and conservation theory, a sensitivity for contemporary artistic working practices, a broad technical knowledge of historic and current audiovisual technologies, a knack for interfacing with many groups of people with diverse skillsets and backgrounds, and an ability to think critically and reflectively.

One of seven synchronized record players used in Susan Philipsz’s installation “Seven Tears” (2016), installed at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. [Photo: B. Castriota]

ECPN: What are some of your current projects, research, or interests?

BC: In my doctoral research I am taking a critical look at how contemporary conservation theory and practice grapple with works of art whose authenticity doesn’t inhere through a fixed or finite physical assemblage, or even a fixed set of rules, parameters, conditions, or properties. There are in existence works whose creation continues after the work is acquired by a museum, works whose rules or conditions change over time or are seen as being variable among stakeholders. This in turn leads to questions about how the continuity of the work’s authenticity can be ensured. I am developing a framework and language to characterize these phenomena and account for them in our practical workflows and protocols.

In conjunction with my doctoral research I am working part-time at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art where I wear two hats. As a researcher, I’ve been examining some of the theoretical and practical challenges posed by particular artworks in and entering the collection. Right now I’m working on an exhibition that includes a number of Susan Philipsz’s complex sound installations involving custom equipment and wireless transmission, which are serving as case studies. I’ve also been lending my expertise as a time-based media conservator to help review their collection care practices around their growing time-based media art collection. Following an initial collection survey and risk assessment we have begun backing-up and condition assessing audiovisual material in the collection, as well as revising and expanding documentation records and acquisition protocols for time-based media artworks.

ECPN: In your opinion, what is an important research area or need in your specialization?

BC: I think one that deserves a bit of focus is terminology. There are a lot of terms that we use in our field, not always with the most consensus about what we mean: emulation, replica, copy, version, authenticity, fidelity, iteration, just to name a few. Some of these terms are borrowed from or have particular lineages within academic discourses in philosophy, ethnography, performance studies, or computer science. In some cases these terms may also have particular meanings in particular industries. These terms also have colloquial usage and connotations. And these are just the English terms. Our field is so international, and there are many terms in other languages that do not have direct translations in English. I have joked for a while that we need to have a “Term Focus” conference – perhaps there will be one on the horizon!

Receiver aerial mounted on the roof of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, relaying Susan Philipsz’s wirelessly-transmitted sound installation “You Are Not Alone” (2009/2017). [Photo: B. Castriota]

ECPN: Do you have any advice for prospective emerging conservators who would like to pursue this specialization?

BC: Do it, because the need is certainly there. If you are pre-program, the Institute of Fine Arts has developed the first dedicated stream in time-based media conservation training in North America. Also be on the lookout for short Mellon-funded courses and workshops geared towards established conservators wishing to pursue greater specialization in time-based media. Attend digital archiving conferences and workshops, join the AMIA listserv, make use of some of the online resources like Code Academy to learn some programming languages, get a Raspberry Pi or a kit for building a little synth or a guitar pedal. The best way to understand the technical underpinnings of time-based and electronic media is to play around with some yourself. Make something!

ECPN Interviews: Electronic Media Conservation with Yasmin Dessem

To promote awareness and a clearer understanding of different pathways into specializations that require particular training, the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) is conducting a series of interviews with conservation professionals in these specialties. We kicked off the series with Chinese and Japanese painting conservation, and now we are focusing on practitioners in AIC’s Electronic Media Group (EMG). These conservators work with time-based media, which can include moving components, performance, light or sound elements, film and video, analog or born-digital materials. We’ve asked our interviewees to share some thoughts about their career paths, which we hope will inspire new conservation professionals and provide valuable insight into these areas of our professional field.

This is the third post from ECPN’s EMG blog series, for which we first interview Nick Kaplan and more recently, Alex Nichols. For our third interview from the EMG series, we spoke with Yasmin Dessem, currently Head of the Audiovisual Preservation Studio at UCLA Library where she serves as the technical lead as the library continues to develop its program of preservation, digitization and access of its moving image and sound holdings. Previously she managed archive deliverables for new feature releases at Paramount Pictures. She has experience working with a wide variety of moving image and sound formats, as well as pre-film animation devices, silent-era cameras, costumes and paper collections. Yasmin holds Master’s degrees in Art History and Moving Image Archive Studies from UCLA.

Yasmin Dessem (left) and Allie Whalen (right) cleaning and relubricating a Betacam deck. [Photo: Walter Urie]

ECPN: Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your current position.

Yasmin Dessem (YD): I oversee the preservation of moving image and recorded sound materials at the UCLA Library’s Preservation Department. For nearly 90 years, the UCLA Library has collected audiovisual materials with content such as home movies, oral histories, and radio broadcasts. Examples are home movies of Susan Sontag’s parents sailing to China in the 1920s and field interviews with Watts residents after the 1965 riots. Audiovisual preservation (AV) at the library is a relatively young unit—a dedicated AV preservationist first came on board in 2011. We offer a number of in-house digitization and preservation services and are currently focusing on increasing our capacity and launching a survey.

ECPN: How were you first introduced to conservation, and why did you decide to pursue conservation?

YD: The 1996 re-release of the restored version of Vertigo first made me aware of film restoration and preservation as an actual practice. Later, as I was finishing my Masters in Art History at UCLA, I took a wonderful class on restoration, preservation, and conservation with Professor David A. Scott. The course covered the material care issues and decision-making ethics for a wide breadth of cultural heritage materials. The class struck a deep chord with me, but I was eager to graduate and start working. After graduation, I ended up working in the film industry for about six years. I was tracking down historic stock footage at one job when my mind circled back to the preservation field as I considered how the films were stored and made available. I had entertained the idea of potentially returning to graduate school to study art conservation some day, but around that time the idea of film preservation as a possible career path began to fully materialize for me. As a result, I began exploring potential graduate programs.

ECPN: Of all specializations, what contributed to your decision to pursue electronic media conservation?

YD: My longtime love for film and music intersected with my curiosity for all things historical and technology-related. These were topics that in one form or another always interested me, but I don’t think I had a full grasp on how to combine them meaningfully into a profession. Preservation was the missing key. My exposure to preservation and conservation while studying art history and my later experience working at film studios both helped direct me towards the specialization.

ECPN: What has been your training pathway? Please list any universities, apprenticeships, technical experience, and any related jobs or hobbies.

YD: I pursued my studies in the Moving Image Archive Studies (MIAS) Program at UCLA—which persists today as a Master of Library and Information Science (M.L.I.S.) with a Media Archival Studies specialization. While in the program, I completed internships with Universal Pictures and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and volunteered at the Hugh Hefner Moving Image Archive at the University of Southern California. Throughout the two-year MIAS program, I also worked as a fellow at the Center for Primary Research and Training program at UCLA Library Special Collections, where I learned archival processing. My experiences weren’t limited to preserving moving image and sound media, but included paper-based collections, costumes, and film technology. After graduating I attended the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) Film Restoration Summer School hosted by the Cineteca di Bologna and L’Immagine Ritrovata.

ECPN: Are there any particular skills that you feel are important or unique to your discipline?

YD: Digital preservation will continue to be a key area of expertise that’s needed in museums and archives. Preserving the original source material and digitizing content is not enough. There are more resources than ever for strategies and tools for digital preservation, and it’s important to seek them out. Another valuable skill is developing a level of comfort with handling and understanding the unique characteristics of a wide variety of physical analog formats such as film, videotape, audiotape, and grooved media (LP, 78s, lacquer discs, wax cylinders, etc.). Similarly, it’s helpful to have a familiarity with playback devices for these obsolete media formats (equipment like open-reel decks or video decks.) Lastly, metadata can be an unsung hero in media preservation. Often, we’re the first to see or hear a recording in decades, so capturing metadata around the point of transfer is critical. Metadata standards can be a rabbit hole of complexities, especially when it comes to describing audiovisual media, but understanding their application is an essential skill.

Lacquer disc cleaning and transfer workshop at the Instituto de Historia de Cuba in Havana, Cuba [Photo: Yasmin Dessem]

ECPN: What are some of your current projects, research, or interests?

YD: We’re just wrapping up digitization of materials from the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company (GSM), an African American-owned and operated insurance firm established in Los Angeles in 1925 in response to discriminatory practices that restricted the ability of African American residents to purchase insurance. GSM operated for 85 years and their collection is a vibrant resource documenting Los Angeles and the empowerment of a community. We received grants from the National Film Preservation Foundation and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation to support this work. The digitized collection is now available on Calisphere. We’ve just started a crowd sourcing project working with former GSM staffers to describe any unidentified content. It’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career, hearing everyone’s stories and seeing how much it means to everyone involved to have this collection preserved and made available.

We’ve also been in preparation to launch a large-scale survey that will help us gather data on the Library’s audiovisual collections that can be used for long term-planning. Outside of UCLA, we’ve been involved with ongoing work with cultural heritage institutions in Cuba. Last February, I set up equipment and held a workshop on the digitization of radio transcription discs held at the Instituto de Historia de Cuba (IHC) in Havana. I’m heading back there next week to begin a project to transfer IHC’s open reel audio collections.

ECPN: In your opinion, what is an important research area or need in your specialization?

YD: It’s crucial to preserve the expertise related to the operation and repair of playback equipment. Playback equipment will become more and more difficult to source in the future. Engineers, whose entire careers are dedicated to the use and care of this equipment, are some of the best resources for this knowledge. Their knowledge is shared through conversation, YouTube videos, social media, and professional workshops. Documenting the skills required to handle, maintain, calibrate, and service this equipment in a more formalized way and sharing that knowledge widely will ensure that the preservationists can keep their equipment viable for longer.

ECPN: Do you have any advice for prospective emerging conservators who would like to pursue this specialization?

YD: Try everything. Media preservation requires a wide variety of skills from computer coding to soldering decades-old circuit boards. Depending on where your career takes you, it’s good to have at least a passing familiarity with the full range of skills you may need to call upon. Apply for internships or fellowships with organizations, like the National Digital Stewardship Residency. Volunteer at community-based archives that need help getting their collections in order. Join professional organizations, like the Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) or the Association of Moving Image Archivists. Attend conferences like code4lib, the Preservation and Archiving Special Interest Group (PASIG), or the Digital Asset Symposium (DAS). Network with engineers or preservation professionals to continue to grow your own expertise, but also share your own skills when you can. Collaboration and knowledge-sharing are a fundamental part of the profession.

Perforation repair of 16 mm film [Photo: Yasmin Dessem]

ECPN: Please share any last thoughts or reflections.

YD: One thing to be aware of, if you’re a woman in the field of audiovisual preservation, is that you may occasionally run into people who are surprised to see a woman working with technology (much less wielding a screwdriver!). This response persists to some degree despite the presence of many successful female professionals in the field. What’s encouraging, however, is seeing the growth of groups like the Women in Recorded Sound collective at ARSC providing support.

Audiovisual preservation is such a gratifying profession. Having the opportunity to make historic content available is incredibly meaningful work that I feel lucky to be a part of everyday. On an even more basic level, figuring out a new workflow or getting a piece of equipment to finally work is just so viscerally satisfying. I’m part of an amazing team whose passion, humor and willingness to try out new things inspires me every day and makes me feel so lucky to be doing this work.

ECPN Interviews: East Asian Art Conservation

This is Part II of the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network interview with Grace Jan, the Yao Wenqing Chinese painting conservator at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian (Freer|Sackler). This post focuses on the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation initiative in Chinese Art Conservation; please read Part I to find out more about her background and reflections on her training!

Continue reading “ECPN Interviews: East Asian Art Conservation”

ECPN Interviews: East Asian Art Conservation

To promote awareness and a clearer understanding of different pathways into specializations that require particular training, the Emerging Conservation Professional Network (ECPN) is conducting a series of interviews with conservators in these specialties. We’ve asked our interviewees to share some thoughts about their career paths, which we hope will inspire new conservators and provide valuable insight into these areas of our professional field. We have an ongoing series for East Asian art and recently started covering Electronic Media.

We continue the East Asian art conservation series with Grace Jan, the Yao Wenqing Chinese painting conservator at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian Institution (Freer|Sackler). She graduated from the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, where she studied paper conservation with a specialization in Chinese mounting from 2003 to 2007. She received a BA in History and Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Continue reading “ECPN Interviews: East Asian Art Conservation”

ECPN Fall Webinar Announcement – Showcasing Your Work: Preparing and Maintaining a Conservation Portfolio

The Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) is pleased to announce our upcoming webinar, “Showcasing Your Work: Preparing and Maintaining a Conservation Portfolio,” taking place on Tuesday, November 14^th from 12:30-1:30 pm EST.

A well-conceived and eye-catching portfolio can be crucial for emerging conservation professionals to progress in the field. But when is a digital portfolio appropriate versus a hard-copy portfolio? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? How should your portfolio evolve as you progress in your career? This Webinar will cover the creation and use of digital and hard-copy portfolios in various scenarios and early-career stages, from pre-program candidate to graduate student and post-graduate.

ECPN has invited two speakers to provide different perspectives on this topic. Susan Heald, Textile Conservator at the National Museum of the American Indian, will discuss her experience reviewing portfolios as part of internship and fellowship applications. Gwen Manthey, a paintings conservator who has worked in both private practice and museums, will speak about digital portfolios, including the practicalities of compiling and maintaining one.

ECPN is seeking submissions for the Q&A session following the speakers’ presentations. To submit your questions in advance, please post in the comments section below or send them via email to ecpn.webinar@conservation-us.org. Questions will be accepted until the morning of the webinar, or can be submitted during the presentations via the GoToWebinar platform.

Attendance is free and open to all AIC members. Please register here to watch the webinar. If you are unable to view the program on November 14, or are not a member of AIC, the full video will be recorded and uploaded onto the AIC YouTube Channel following the broadcast.

Please see below to learn more about our speakers:

SUSAN HEALD has been the National Museum of the American Indian’s textile conservator since 1994, where she has supervised many pre-program interns and post-graduate fellows. Prior to NMAI, she served as the Minnesota Historical Society’s textile conservator, and was a Smithsonian Conservation Analytical Lab postgraduate fellow. She holds an MS in Art Conservation (textile major/objects minor) from the University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum, and a BA in Chemistry and Anthropology from the George Washington University. She served as chair and vice-chair for the AIC Textile Specialty Group (1997-98), and as a board member for the North American Textile Conservation Conference (2004-09).

GWEN MANTHEY is the newly-appointed Contract Interim Paintings Conservator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and maintains a private practice outside of Philadelphia. Prior positions include Assistant Paintings Conservator at the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA), National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the Chrysler Museum of Art (Norfolk, VA), and the Wyeth Fellow for American Art at the Walters Art Museum (Baltimore, MD). A graduate of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (B.A.S, M.S., C.A.S.), she is serving as Program Chair for the Philadelphia Area Conservation Association and a mentor for ECPN-HBCU Mentor-Pilot Program.

— Posted on behalf of ECPN Webinar Coordinator Jen Munch (ecpn.webinar@conservation-us.org).

ECPN Interviews: Electronic Media Conservation with Nick Kaplan

To promote awareness and a clearer understanding of different pathways into specializations that require particular training, the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) is conducting a series of interviews with conservation professionals in these specialties. We kicked off the series with Chinese and Japanese painting conservation, and now we are focusing on practitioners in AIC’s Electronic Media Group (EMG). These conservators work with time-based media, which can include moving components, performance, light or sound elements, film and video, analog or born-digital materials. We’ve asked our interviewees to share some thoughts about their career paths, which we hope will inspire new conservation professionals and provide valuable insight into these areas of our professional field.

In our first interview from the EMG series, we spoke with Nick Kaplan, a graduate fellow in the Winterthur/University of Delaware class of 2019. Nick is pursuing a major in objects conservation and has a special interest in electronic media conservation.

ECPN: Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Nicholas Kaplan (NK): I have just begun my second year as a graduate student in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation where I am pursuing a major in objects conservation and a minor in preventive conservation. In 2009, I received my BFA with a concentration in sculpture from Washington University in St. Louis. Between 2009 and the start of my graduate education, I worked as an intern and held various positions at The National Archives and Records Administration, Art Conservation and Restoration LLC., and the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden respectively.

Nicholas Kaplan, graduate fellow in the Winterthur/University of Delaware class of 2019.

ECPN: How were you first introduced to conservation, and why did you decide to pursue conservation?

NK: I was first introduced to the field of conservation by my high school chemistry teacher. I didn’t think about it too much at that time, but then a few of my undergraduate professors reiterated the idea of pursuing a career in conservation. I had been studying fine art and chemistry independently up to that point. Despite my love of art, I think I knew that I didn’t really want to pursue it professionally. As I began to look in to art conservation more seriously, it became apparent that it was a good blend of my interests. So, I tailored my remaining time as an undergraduate toward the aim of attending one of the graduate programs in art conservation.

ECPN: Of all specializations, what contributed to your decision to pursue electronic or time-based media conservation?

NK: When I began my pursuit of a career in conservation, I hadn’t actually heard of electronic media conservation as a unique specialty, and I had planned to focus on the conservation of contemporary art more generally. Modern and contemporary art has long been my favorite area of study, and its conservation seemed to present the most diverse range of areas for exploration. The number of unanswered and perhaps unanswerable questions appealed to me, as did the ethical and philosophical considerations of an artwork’s conceptual nature versus the material reality of its constituents. When I was introduced to the specialty of electronic media conservation, the issues that had initially drawn me to contemporary art conservation became magnified. The phrase “time-based media,” denoting a particular artistic genre, was also new to me, but it quickly became apparent that all of my own artwork fell solidly into this category. So, given my interests and previous familiarity with the materials and media, specializing in electronic media conservation seemed a very natural fit.

Image of Nick Kaplan conserving a computer that is part of the artwork, Neither There Nor There (2005), by Siebren Versteeg. [Photo: Alexandra Nichols, courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institute] — Image of Nick Kaplan conserving a computer that is part of the artwork *Neither There Nor There* (2005) by Siebren Versteeg [Photo: Alexandra Nichols, courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden]

ECPN: What has been your training pathway? Please list any universities, apprenticeships, technical experience, and any related jobs or hobbies.

NK: As an undergraduate in the Sam Fox School of Art and Design at Washington University in St. Louis, I took classes in video production, circuit design and fabrication, and the use and manipulation of A/V feeds and playback equipment. At the time, all of that was geared toward my own artistic practice, which I continue to pursue independently. When I began to enter the conservation field, however, I was incredibly fortunate to get a position at the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden where I began as a pre-program intern in the conservation department. I was eventually hired as the Collections Assistant in the museum’s collections management department. While I was there, Gwynne Ryan, now chief conservator, enthusiastically encouraged my participation in the museum’s artist interview program, its internal time-based media team, and the Smithsonian Institution’s time-based media working group. Thus, I was able to take part in workshops, learn tools for media analysis and playback equipment from experts, and work with colleagues across the Hirshhorn Museum and the Smithsonian Institution.

This helped me to build a comprehensive understanding of the various considerations surrounding the conservation of electronic media. Now as a graduate student in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, my advisors and instructors are very supportive of my decision to pursue electronic media conservation and have helped me to hone my education through independent studies and specialized projects. I have also had the opportunity to work with Christine Frohnert and Reinhard Bek as an intern at Bek & Frohnert LLC.

ECPN: Are there any particular skills that you feel are important or unique to your discipline?

NK: Like any conservation specialization, I think it’s important to have a familiarity with the material and media of the works being treated. For electronic media the specific information that might be important to familiarize oneself with can range from physical media to various coding languages to formats, codecs, and color spaces, as well as hardware and playback equipment. The list could go on and on, but I don’t think it is necessary to have an encyclopedic knowledge of all the video formats that have ever existed, for example. I think it is more helpful to look at these all as systems and be familiar with the parameters, their relationships, and how they come to define specific characteristics or aspects of a particular work. I also think it is important to be familiar with the tools and safeguards of examination. Again, these can vary but the list might include write blockers, checksums, activity logs, programs for metadata extraction, analog and digital scopes, multimeters, and imaging tools.

I think that possibly one of the most important things when working with electronic media is knowing the limits of your own knowledge and being comfortable reaching out to professionals in related fields to ask for help and advice. Given the breadth of materials that fall under the umbrella of electronic media and the speed with which that material changes, there will always be people who are more familiar and knowledgeable about particular areas. This may include professionals in IT, cyber security, video production, exhibitions, the library and archives community, electrical engineers, and other areas of computer science. I think it’s crucial that the conservation community be able to engage with people outside our field to draw on their expertise and the resources allied professionals can provide.

Image of Nick Kaplan and colleague evaluating Horizontal by artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila. [Photo: Andrew Doucette, courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garnden, Smithsonian Institute] — Image of Nick Kaplan and colleague evaluating *Horizontal* by artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila. [Photo: Andrew Doucette, courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden]

ECPN: What are some of your current projects, research, or interests?

NK: Recently, I have become increasingly interested in exploring processor-based control systems as well as 3D printing software and technology. I am also interested to see how consideration for the materiality of legacy equipment and components becomes increasingly relevant in the face of obsolescence. Obsolescence is obviously an ongoing concern for the conservation of electronic media. As stockpiles of replacement equipment are depleted I see more treatment focusing on the retention of as much of the original equipment as possible with a focus on the inherent aesthetic qualities that anchor this equipment to particular moments in history. I hope to pursue research in this area with a focus on CRT monitors in the near future.

ECPN: In your opinion, what is an important research area or need in your specialization?

NK: Electronic media conservation is, in my opinion, still in the early stages of development, and there are any number of avenues for future in-depth research. One such that caught my attention recently had to do with the consideration of artwork that exists on social media platforms. I also think that with the increasing availability of things like virtual reality (VR) technology, which have given rise to more interactive pieces, it will be important to focus research and preservation efforts on aspects of designed user experiences.

ECPN: Do you have any advice for prospective emerging conservators who would like to pursue this specialization?

NK: I would recommend that emerging conservators interested in pursuing electronic media conservation not be daunted by the scope of knowledge and information that may be relevant. I would encourage them to try and gain as broad of an understanding of the types of media and materials as possible from inside the conservation field but also through practical experience working with the medium. A large portion of my knowledge of electronic media came out of my interest in learning how to make it. I would suggest that people try writing a program, assembling a controller, or shooting, editing, and producing a video. It doesn’t necessarily have to be focused on conservation but just as a way to build a foundation of knowledge of how these things actually work.