{"id":8216,"date":"2013-06-03T23:15:46","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T04:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conservators-converse.org\/?p=8216"},"modified":"2013-06-03T23:15:46","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T04:15:46","slug":"41st-annual-meeting-architecture-session-may-30th-2013-metal-health-and-weld-being-conservation-strategies-for-a-collection-of-sculpture-by-john-chamberlain-shelley-smith-ob","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/2013\/06\/03\/41st-annual-meeting-architecture-session-may-30th-2013-metal-health-and-weld-being-conservation-strategies-for-a-collection-of-sculpture-by-john-chamberlain-shelley-smith-ob\/","title":{"rendered":"41st Annual Meeting, Object Session, May 30th, 2013. \u201cMetal Health and Weld Being: Conservation Strategies for a Collection of Sculpture by John Chamberlain.\u201d Shelley Smith, Objects Conservator, Menil Collection, and Catherine Williams, Objects Conservator, Silver Lining Art Conservation, LLC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
John Chamberlain, American Tableau<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nPresented by Catherine Williams, the talk started with a warning for more sensitive viewers \u2013 alluding to forthcoming descriptions of welding, an uncomfortable proposition for many conservators.\u00a0 The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas conserved a collection of sculpture by John Chamberlain<\/a> in preparation for the museum\u2019s 25th<\/sup> anniversary in 2012<\/a>.\u00a0 Ranging from 8 to 22 feet in height, Chamberlain\u2019s sculptures are composed of multiple pieces of salvaged sheet metal covered with layers of original automotive and applied artists paint, joined by mechanical fasteners and tack welds.\u00a0\u00a0 Several sculptures were structurally unstable due to the spontaneous nature of their assemblage, with poorly prepared surfaces and poorly executed oxyacetylene welds. (The authors observed that the quality of welds improved after around 1981, when Chamberlain\u2019s assistants executed more of the welding.) \u00a0Paint (both the artist\u2019s and original automotive) was lifting and flaking, and the sculptures were dirty.
\nChamberlain\u2019s studio was consulted over the course of treatment planning, but played a limited role in part due to the artist\u2019s death in 2011.\u00a0 An interview with Chamberlain archived through the Artists Documentation Program<\/a> offered guidance in terms of the artist\u2019s priorities, especially in terms of aesthetic reintegration. In the end, it was determined that adhesives would not be sufficient to stabilize failed joins, and Chamberlain\u2019s studio concurred with the conservators that welding would be an appropriate solution.\u00a0 The conservators contacted Guido Schindler of Schindler Metalworks<\/a> in Houston to execute TIG weld repairs.\u00a0 It was emphasized by both the authors and responding audience members how much the eventual success of these treatments depended on the expertise of this highly skilled craftsman.
\nIn executing the welds on four sculptures, Schindler added welding rod only where necessary, working around existing slag on surface and retaining the original welds\u2019 \u201cmessy look.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0In response to priorities expressed by the Chamberlain in an interview, artist\u2019s paint was given priority in reintegration, though both the artist\u2019s and automotive paint layers were stabilized.\u00a0 Balanced cleaning of the pastiche sculptures with so many contrasting surfaces proved a challenge. \u00a0Careful documentation of each sculpture included painstaking numbered mapping and description of each intervention.\u00a0 In all, 20 sculptures were documented, 12 were cleaned, and 4 were structurally stabilized in preparation for exhibition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Presented by Catherine Williams, the talk started with a warning for more sensitive viewers \u2013 alluding to forthcoming descriptions of welding, an uncomfortable proposition for many conservators.\u00a0 The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas conserved a collection of sculpture by John Chamberlain in preparation for the museum\u2019s 25th anniversary in 2012.\u00a0 Ranging from 8 to 22 … Continue reading “41st Annual Meeting, Object Session, May 30th, 2013. \u201cMetal Health and Weld Being: Conservation Strategies for a Collection of Sculpture by John Chamberlain.\u201d Shelley Smith, Objects Conservator, Menil Collection, and Catherine Williams, Objects Conservator, Silver Lining Art Conservation, LLC”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":7942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,32,15,16],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-8216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-annual-meeting","category-objects","category-specialties","category-specialty-sessions","tag-aics-41st-annual-meeting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}