{"id":8977,"date":"2013-06-28T16:32:53","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T21:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conservators-converse.org\/?p=8977"},"modified":"2013-06-28T16:32:53","modified_gmt":"2013-06-28T21:32:53","slug":"41st-annual-meeting-objects-session-may-30-bon-appetit-plastics-in-julia-childs-kitchen-by-mary-coughlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/2013\/06\/28\/41st-annual-meeting-objects-session-may-30-bon-appetit-plastics-in-julia-childs-kitchen-by-mary-coughlin\/","title":{"rendered":"AIC's 41st Annual Meeting \u2013 Objects Session, May 30, \u201cBon App\u00e9tit? Plastics in Julia Child\u2019s Kitchen\u201d by Mary Coughlin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AIC_photo\"<\/a>
\nI wonder what Julia would think about the current state of her kitchenware?\u00a0 In Mary Coughlin\u2019s talk, \u201cBon App\u00e9tit? <\/i>Plastics in Julia Child\u2019s Kitchen,\u201d Mary discussed issues she and her Museum Studies class faced while inside the Julia Child Kitchen exhibition at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History (NMAH).\u00a0 Mary is an objects conservator and professor at George Washington University.\u00a0 Her class carried out a condition survey of the exhibition as it transitioned from its original installation into part of the new FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000<\/i> exhibition<\/a>.
\nThe kitchen was originally located in Julia Child\u2019s Cambridge, Massachusetts home from 1961 to 2001 and was the setting of her last three television shows.\u00a0 When Julia donated it to NMAH, the museum accessioned over 1,200 objects, ranging from spatulas to a Rubik\u2019s Cube.\u00a0 The kitchen was installed in the museum as Bon App\u00e9tit! Julia Child\u2019s Kitchen,<\/i> a temporary exhibition that was probably only meant to be on display for less than one year.\u00a0 But as is often the case with well-loved exhibitions, it ended up being on display for a decade.
\nMary\u2019s class worked within the exhibition, actually in Julia\u2019s kitchen on view to the public, as they carried out the condition survey.\u00a0 It seems as though many of the museum visitors also wished to step inside the kitchen, as Mary humorously noted that they often heard the thud of visitors walking into the glass partitions.\u00a0 In an effort to provide outreach to the public, a curator was posted outside the kitchen to discuss the project with visitors.\u00a0 In addition, the students wrote blog posts about their experiences which can be viewed on the NMAH\u2019s blog \u201cO Say Can You See?<\/a>\u201d (For example, see one student\u2019s post here<\/a>).
\nAfter the condition survey, the class made recommendations for ways to incorporate preventive conservation into the new exhibition. \u00a0Two of the main problems encountered in the old exhibition were dust and degraded plastics.\u00a0 The old exhibition did not have a ceiling, and the vents above the kitchen created a significant dust problem.\u00a0 This issue was particularly problematic considering that many of the plastics within the kitchen are oozing and sticky.\u00a0 The new installation is sealed on the top, and during Mary\u2019s evaluation of the new exhibition six months later, she found a significant decrease in dust accumulation.\u00a0 One problem area was a large gap around one of the glass door covers, but it has since been gasketed to create a better seal.
\nMary\u2019s class also found evidence of fading and discoloration in plastics.\u00a0 For instance, the top surfaces of a set of rubber kitchen gloves had turned black, while the undersides remained blue. Mary placed mylar barriers underneath and between problematic plastics to prevent sticking and oozing on surrounding objects.\u00a0 And when the gloves were reinstalled in the new exhibition, the top glove was flipped in order to display the blue side, following the request of the curator.
\nMary mentioned the curator\u2019s desire for authenticity within the exhibition and that they wished to have all the original objects on display within the kitchen.\u00a0 While Mary\u2019s class found evidence of plastic degradation, the museum continues to display the degrading plastics in a relatively similar environment as the previous exhibition (although the HVAC system is improved and dust is being mitigated.\u00a0 She also noted that the degrading objects were not causing damage to other objects).\u00a0 Mary\u2019s talk raised questions that many museums and conservators must face, such as authenticity versus preservation?\u00a0 Does displaying original degraded objects or surrogate objects in good condition change the meaning or importance of the work?\u00a0\u00a0 The answers to these questions may also be different within the context of a history museum as opposed to an art museum.
\nAs I viewed images of oozing spatulas that are not dissimilar to those sold today, one of the questions I had (but didn\u2019t get a chance to ask Mary) is whether there was any discussion with the curators about purchasing surrogate objects either to be displayed now or in the future?\u00a0 Maybe similar objects could be purchased now, while they are still readily available, and stored in more optimal conditions (dark, cold storage?) to be displayed later if needed.
\nI can\u2019t help but wonder, what will the plastics in the exhibition look like in another ten years?\u00a0 And what would Julia Child think? \u00a0Bon App\u00e9tit?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wonder what Julia would think about the current state of her kitchenware?\u00a0 In Mary Coughlin\u2019s talk, \u201cBon App\u00e9tit? Plastics in Julia Child\u2019s Kitchen,\u201d Mary discussed issues she and her Museum Studies class faced while inside the Julia Child Kitchen exhibition at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History (NMAH).\u00a0 Mary is an objects conservator … Continue reading “AIC's 41st Annual Meeting \u2013 Objects Session, May 30, \u201cBon App\u00e9tit? Plastics in Julia Child\u2019s Kitchen\u201d by Mary Coughlin”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":177,"featured_media":7942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,25,26,32,16],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-8977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-annual-meeting","category-collectioncare","category-conservationeducation","category-objects","category-specialty-sessions","tag-aics-41st-annual-meeting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8977","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\/177"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8977\/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=8977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}