{"id":8223,"date":"2013-06-03T23:24:19","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T04:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conservators-converse.org\/?p=8223"},"modified":"2013-06-03T23:24:19","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T04:24:19","slug":"41st-annual-meeting-architecture-session-may-30th-2013-three-way-plug-three-ways-conservation-treatments-of-three-editions-of-claes-oldenburgs-cor-ten-steel-and-bronze-giant-th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/2013\/06\/03\/41st-annual-meeting-architecture-session-may-30th-2013-three-way-plug-three-ways-conservation-treatments-of-three-editions-of-claes-oldenburgs-cor-ten-steel-and-bronze-giant-th\/","title":{"rendered":"41st Annual Meeting, Object Session, May 30th, 2013. \u201cThree-Way Plug Three Ways: Conservation Treatments of Three Editions of Claes Oldenburg\u2019s Cor-Ten Steel and Bronze Giant Three Way Plug.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
Claes Oldenburg, Three-Way Plug<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nMark Erdmann, Conservator of Objects, ICA Art Conservation; Adam Jenkins, Conservator in Private Practice; Robert Marti, Co-Owner, and Marianne Russell Marti, President, Russell-Marti Conservation Services, Inc.<\/em>
\nPresented by Mark Erdmann, this talk described the treatment of three versions of Claes Oldenburg\u2019s<\/a> Three-Way Plug<\/i> sculpture by three separate conservators.\u00a0 Erdmann treated the Allen Art Museum\u2019s (AAM) version<\/a> in Oberlin, Ohio; Jenkins treated Philadelphia Museum of Art\u2019s (PMA) version<\/a>; and Rusell and Russell Marti treated the Saint Louis Art Museum\u2019s (SLAM) version<\/a>. While working separately, the authors shared their experiences with each other, and seized a great opportunity by aggregating these experiences in one place to be referenced by others faced by similar challenges.
\nThe outdoor sculptures consist of Cor-Ten steel and bronze plug prongs, assembled with no internal armature.\u00a0 Uncoated at installation, the sculptures are sunk into the soil on gravel beds with no platforms, and contain drainage holes.\u00a0 The authors\u2019 research revealed interesting insights into Oldenburg\u2019s intentions, both in installation and fate of the multiples; he wanted the Plugs<\/i> to deteriorate in relation to the environment, and hoped they might end up in dramatically different environments that might shape their appearances.\u00a0 This was not to be, and the sculptures experienced similar patterns of deterioration, primarily caused by accumulation of moisture and debris on the sculptures\u2019 interiors.\u00a0 Each Plug<\/i> had been previously treated for corrosion at least once and given protective coatings.\u00a0 Corrosion of the PMA and SLAM versions <\/i>was most severe, with areas of localized steel collapse.\u00a0\u00a0 Galvanic corrosion also occurred at the interface of the bronze prongs and adjacent steel, and localized tarnishing was found on the prongs.
\nTreatment of all three Plugs<\/i> involved removal of existing coating and corrosion, followed by coating reapplication.\u00a0 The SLAM and PMA Plugs<\/i> required partial replacement of the Core-10 body in areas of collapse, with patches welded in place following applicable ASTM standards and textured to match the original.\u00a0 The AAM\u2019s Plug<\/i> was cleaned with glass bead peening, followed by coating with an epoxy coating.\u00a0 The SLAM version was cleaned by sand blasting, followed by coating with a zinc primer and acrylic\/polyester\/polyurethane topcoat.\u00a0 The PMA\u2019s Plug <\/i>was also abrasion-cleaned, followed by coating with a Tnemec Co. zinc urethane primer and epoxy topcoat.\u00a0 The most notable difference in approach was that of treatment of the interior – while the interior of AAM\u2019s Plug<\/i> was coated overall with Ship-2- Shore marine coating containing corrosion inhibitor, the interior of the SLAM\u2019s Plug<\/i> was only locally coated, and the interior of the PMA\u2019s plug was left uncoated in favor of ongoing maintenance and inspection.\u00a0 It will be interesting to compare preservation outcome of the three in relation to this difference in approach.
\nTo address deterioration due to galvanic corrosion at the prong\u2019s bronze-steel interface of the AAM\u2019s version, joins were strengthened via TIG welding.\u00a0 The authors acknowledged this would not remediate the problem, but solutions involving disassembly and isolation of the metals were financially unfeasible.\u00a0 Cathodic systems for overall corrosion protection were likewise financially out of reach, and difficult to monitor over the long term. \u00a0In each case the prongs were cleaned and re-coated, and drainage was improved. \u00a0Most importantly, each conservator recognized that frequent inspection and removal of debris from the interior was key to the preservation of the Plugs<\/i>, and emphasized this to the owners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Erdmann, Conservator of Objects, ICA Art Conservation; Adam Jenkins, Conservator in Private Practice; Robert Marti, Co-Owner, and Marianne Russell Marti, President, Russell-Marti Conservation Services, Inc. Presented by Mark Erdmann, this talk described the treatment of three versions of Claes Oldenburg\u2019s Three-Way Plug sculpture by three separate conservators.\u00a0 Erdmann treated the Allen Art Museum\u2019s (AAM) … Continue reading “41st Annual Meeting, Object Session, May 30th, 2013. \u201cThree-Way Plug Three Ways: Conservation Treatments of Three Editions of Claes Oldenburg\u2019s Cor-Ten Steel and Bronze Giant Three Way Plug.\u201d”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":7942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,32,15,16],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-8223","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\/8223","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=8223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8223\/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=8223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}