From Sharks to Sugar: Addressing Conservation Issues of ... - incca

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CHAPTER 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I have used some strange materials to make artwork. For the thesis exhibition for my Master of Fine Arts degree, I included an installation piece involving a washbasin filled with several bars of soap. This would not seem unusual if the viewer saw the work in a photograph. However, when the piece was installed in a gallery, the viewer walked into the space and experienced the overwhelming smell of bacon coming from the soap. When making the soap, I had added a special ingredient, an artificial gel with an intense bacon scent. This gel is a product formulated for hunters to use as an attractant for bears. I have not explained the special ingredient to most people who have experienced the piece simply because not many have had reason to ask me about it. No one has asked me whether I intend for the piece to last forever, or if I will remake the soap every time the piece is shown. No one has asked me whether or not the scent fades over time. Then again, no museum owns this piece. If a museum actually decided to acquire my work or any work like it, many questions would arise and would ideally need to be answered before the museum agreed to own and care for the work. It stands to reason that since the artist who made the work is most familiar with it and the methods used in making it, he or she should be consulted. As a 1
preventative conservation measure, the museum should have as much information as possible about the technical nature of the artwork. As I completed my second Master’s degree, this one in Museum Studies, I wondered: Do museums actually capture this information? If so, when? Do conservators investigate this information? Or is it collections managers or registrars? Who documents it? How? Can others access this information? So for this project, I investigated how museums holding contemporary art in the United States can more effectively communicate with artists in order to conserve artwork made from alternative media and accessioned into museums’ permanent collections. This type of art is made from non-traditional materials that conservators are not typically trained to care for. Historically, fine arts conservation has been broken down into categories of traditional media such as paintings, textiles, photographic materials, etc. (Hill Stoner, 2005, p. 50). However, approaches to conservation have changed over time as artists have increasingly employed everyday objects, mixed media, and ephemeral media (Hummelen, 2004, p.208). In this project, I focus on contemporary art made with nontraditional ephemeral materials by living artists. 2
Page 1 and 2: From Sharks to Sugar: Addressing Co
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRAT
Page 5 and 6: Case Study #2: Untitled, 2006, Rosa
Page 7: LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure No. Su
Page 11 and 12: staff (in addition to conservators
Page 13 and 14: for this unusual artwork. Although
Page 15 and 16: artwork, quotes from the artists an
Page 17 and 18: conference to learn how conservator
Page 19 and 20: I interviewed Dr. Wharton, Conserva
Page 21 and 22: For SJMA, I focused on the artwork
Page 23 and 24: Chapter 3: LIMITATIONS There are ma
Page 25 and 26: of this artwork. For instance, wher
Page 27 and 28: CHAPTER 4: LITERATURE REVIEW In the
Page 29 and 30: only in what he did but in what he
Page 31 and 32: In his article “In a Pickle,” M
Page 33 and 34: Other artists defer to the buyer to
Page 35 and 36: Art Conservation Evolution of Art C
Page 37 and 38: context, the author enfolds the fie
Page 39 and 40: contemporary art. Collaboration wit
Page 41 and 42: Often, the collections manager sets
Page 43 and 44: Sterrett investigated the challenge
Page 45 and 46: and employ solutions for caring for
Page 47 and 48: understands how the materials were
Page 49 and 50: Whether or not there is a professio
Page 51 and 52: her art without consulting the arti
Page 53 and 54: has been a need to access this info
Page 55 and 56: three- determination of meaning. Th
Page 57 and 58: that collections managers are not u
Page 59 and 60:
Past Efforts to Address the Issue S
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department at Stedelijk Museum Aktu
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Chapter 5: FINDINGS “The Object i
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historian pointed out that the docu
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challenges the authenticity of the
Page 69 and 70:
INCCA-NA Database Entry Training Se
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Even conservators who feel that the
Page 73 and 74:
Wharton sees the database as the co
Page 75 and 76:
And the works are deemed so importa
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Case Studies Case Study #1: Untitle
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interviewed, it is no surprise that
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Pennuto is a conservator who has be
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oles in the museum, which echoes th
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Case Study #2: Untitled, 2006, Rosa
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sees the piece is completely relian
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Are we willing to spend this much m
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person transporting the work to tip
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have with this piece, and different
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Conservation images of Untitled, 20
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Artist interview: Carlos Mollura. M
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We talked about his decisions to ma
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much about the concept, could be re
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so that’s the beginning of your c
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these particular artists happen to
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All staff members at museums are ov
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things in a certain way and develop
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parties in order to use the documen
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Chapter 6: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMEN
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3. Museum professionals should cons
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necessarily intercept change. This
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7. Collections managers need access
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individual pieces. But if they have
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someone with training in collection
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artists with the artwork are ideal,
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Jennifer Levy cosmodandy@yahoo.com
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Chapter 9: BIBLIOGRAPHY AND APPENDI
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conservation for modern materials.
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Díaz, March 2005. Elise S. Haas Co
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Artists’ Installations and the Mu
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. If not, would you be willing to a
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Appendix B Interview Questions for
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Appendix C Interview Questions for
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Appendix D Interview Questions for
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