Small samples big objects, Munich, May 9, 2007. - Eu-ARTECH

Small samples – big objects
In the case of big monuments some established rules of cultural heritage laboratory
sampling and information processing seem to be no more fully applicable.
It goes without saying that for small objects material samples should be as tiny as
possible and that the size of samples can be one of the most crucial issues.
Moreover, many ingenious non-destructive testing methods (NDT) are in
constructive competition with classical sample based bulk analysis and have even
further diminished the allowed amount of material sampling that is generally
accepted.
On the other hand, when looking at a big monument it becomes obvious that it is not
so much the size of the samples that matters but their information content. By the
process of sampling but also in the decision on a NDT approach, the conservation
scientist has to reduce drastically the wealth of material information spread over
large surface areas and hidden within non-accessible volumes. It has to be
assumed that an abundant percentage of the information is in danger to be
overlooked in this scope reduction step. So the classical sampling of a big object
has an inherent risk to be a hopeless, arbitrary and possibly even paradox
approach.
But still an appropriate small sample – a "good" sample – might contain fascinating,
hidden historical information on the object thus markedly contributing to our
understanding of the soul of a monument. The seminar will point out how those
small samples can actually influence and broaden our historical understanding e.g.
of those objects that have secretly changed their properties though standing outside
for decades and centuries in perfect publicity. It will be shown how microscopic
laboratory findings translate into a much larger scale and - like an electrical amplifier
circuit - radiate into our plans how to manage big surface areas and big volumes of
monuments in restoration and conservation.
The participation is free. But please note that an e-mail pre-registration is mandatory.
Please use either the registration form distributed with the e-mail version of this flyer
or register directly and informally by e-mail to:
ilse.sanya@blfd.bayern.de
Just refer to: seminar "Small samples – big objects" pre-registration
and indicate your name, address and contact e-mail.
The seminar is organised and funded by the Eu-ARTECH European project. Therefore
all presentations will be given in English and there will be no translation to other languages.
SMALL SAMPLES BIG OBJECTS
Seminar 9 th May 2007
Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege
Hofgraben 4 · 80539 München
www.eu-artech.org

Programme
9:00 - 9:15 Arrival and registration
9:15 - 9:25 Welcome address by Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege
Egon Johannes Greipl, head of BLfD
9:25 - 9:45 The Eu-ARTECH project
Bruno G. Brunetti, coordinator of the Eu-ARTECH project
Universita' di Perugia, Perugia, Italia
9:45 - 10:30 Sampling of a stone portal with microdrilling – decay profiles
and past treatments
José Delgado Rodrigues and Ana Ferreira Pinto
Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Lisboa, Portugal
10:30 - 11:15 Nazca: a tiny tool for a large line
Jörg Faßbinder
Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, München, Deutschland
11:15 - 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 - 12:15 Fuzzy logic and neolithic wood
Daria Yu. Hookk et al.
Государственный Эрмитаж (The State Hermitage Museum), Санкт-Петербург, Россия
12:15 - 13:00 Forever lost and found again? The conservator’s part in search
of the original appearance of painted monumental metal objects
Elisabeth Krebs
Freiberufliche Restauratorin, Wien, Österreich
13:00 - 14:30 Lunch break
14:30 - 15:15 From the monument to the microsample: a difficult problem of scale
in the understanding of conservation problems
Isabelle Pallot-Frossard
Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques, Champs-sur-Marne, France
15:15 - 16:00 Small samples from giant buddhas
Michael Petzet and Edmund Melzl
International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
16:00 - 16:15 Coffee break
16:15 - 17:00 Sampling of biodeteriogens in monumental and archaeological
areas – methods and usefulness
Daniela Pinna
Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Firenze, Italia
17:00 - 17:45 Experiences with large collections and monuments – how to approach
the analytical challenges
Stefan Simon and Rupert Utz
Rathgen-Forschungslabor, Berlin, Deutschland / ProDenkmal, Bamberg, Deutschland