from The New York Times -
British Library, You’ve Got Mail, and It’s Not Spam
go to article

Another effort at digital preservation and this time using the unique medium of e-mail to document a sample of "everyday" (and some might say "mundane") life. The larger objective of the entire exercise being to build "the first archive of its kind" as a sort of "electronic time capsule".

"The British Library is famous for its collections of 'official history.' What’s great about the collection of e-mail messages is that it’s a 'democratic resource' that shows how people really lived."

The claim that this collection of messages are somehow representative is perhaps a result of wishful thinking. It would be more accurate to qualify that it "shows how people with access to e-mails really lived" in a world where only 12% have access to a computer.
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from News@Nature.com -
Plastics for posterity
go to article

A brief round-up of the 3-day conference, "Plastics: Looking at the Future & Learning from the Past", held at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

See also an earlier related article ("Plastics Preservation at the V&A" by Brenda Keneghan) in the V&A Conservation Journal.
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from The Guardian -
Tate Modern has sold its soul - and us - down the river
go to article

A sharp critique of the latest programme development at the Tate Modern, especially the move to feature more of the private collection of the Swiss Bank, UBS. There is a larger and more complex issue of securing funding, which is not helped by the UK government's latest move to divert more funding away from the arts and heritage in preparation for the London Olympics. Nevertheless, the author argues that:

"Tate Modern belongs to the British people. Its space cannot be sold, its codes must not be breached simply because the government doesn't care to support it as it should."

This line of criticism also brings to mind an earlier article in the New York Times (see previous post) which also regaled against the commercial excess and frenzy in US museums. Perhaps the larger and more pertinent question ought to be: "What can be done about the situation?"
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from Tate Modern - Talks & Discussions -
The Sound of Materials
go to web-page
MP3 recording (89.9 MB)

from Tate Modern -
What can matter be? A podcast about materials, science and art
go to web-page

The talk discusses the art and science of sounds and the influence of different materials on the production of sound, while the podcast (self-service) tour offers the listener a quirky take on the the physical and material aspects of various collections and premises within Tate Modern.

The podcast tour was done in conjunction with Mark Miodownik, who first set up the Materials Library at King's College, London (see earlier post for additional information). An article was also written up in Materials Today (PDF article , 1.4 MB) on one of the exhibit being examined - "Artist's Shit" by Piero Manzoni.

Both the talk and podcast tour highlight an often neglected aspect of our aesthetic experience, which is the realisation that the choice of materials and their physical construction often exert a significant influence on the final aesthetic experience, be it visually, acoustically or tactually. Hence, the physical deterioration of materials in artworks - which art conservation efforts seek to slow and reduce - will also inevitably affect the aesthetic impact of artworks in time to come, whether intended or otherwise.
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from BBC News -
'History itself has been lost'
go to article
also
Blaze ravages historic Cutty Sark
go to article
also
In Pictures: Cutty Sark
go to photos

A sad update. See earlier post on the conservation and significance of this tea clipper docked at Greenwich.
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from The New York Times -
Sculpture (and Nerves) of Steel
go to article
go to audio clip

A behind-the-scene account of the installation of Richard Serra's massive sculptures at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Makes one wonder where does art end and engineering begin?

Also, see a time-lapsed video of a couple of sculptures installed in the MoMA Sculpture Gardens. (Link courtesy of Modern Art Notes)
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from GCI - Conservation Newsletter -
Volume 22, Spring 2007: Environmental Management
go to contents
download PDF (4.6 MB)

from Tate Research Papers -
"Historically Accurate Reconstructions of Artists’ Oil Painting Materials"
by Leslie Carlyle and Maartjee Witlox
go to article

A few interesting articles updated recently. From the Getty Conservation Newsletter, a whole issue dedicated to the idea of passive environmental control, all the more relevant in the context of today's increasing concerns with sustainability and depletion of natural resources. In the Tate Research Papers, an article which discusses the relevance of material and scientific analysis in the context of art historical research.
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from The Sunday Times -
Behind the scenes at the British Museum
go to article

One more example of the institutional transformation (of a museum) beginning with a deep sense of passion, intellectual honesty and inspired leadership. Copious amount of funding is not, and cannot be, a necessary starting condition - that comes afterwards. It makes one wonder if the rush to build museums in a top-down fashion is doing it the wrong way round and, perhaps, for all the wrong reasons.
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s/pores: New Directions in Singapore Studies
go to online journal

Citizen Historian: The Unrewarded Amateur Conscience
go to online journal

Archives & Social Studies: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Research
go to online journal

Beginning Preservation: A forum for discussing preservation and conservation
go to weblog

Added several links on the sidebar which point to online journals and weblog that may be of interest.
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from Royal Microscopical Society -
InFocus
go to web-page

There are a few articles, available on-line, related to the examination and technical analysis of paint / pigment samples from the newsletter of the RMS.

Issue 1, March 2006

"Forensics and Microscopy in Authenticating Works of Art"
Peter Paul Biro
go to PDF article, 930kB

"Microscopical techniques applied to traditional paintings"
Joyce H Townsend and Katrien Keune
go to PDF article, 1.6MB

"Scientific dating of paintings"
Nicholas Eastaugh
go to PDF article, 1.1MB


Issue 2, June 2006

"'Not a day without a line drawn': Pigments and painting techniques of Roman Artists"
Ruth Siddall
go to PDF article, 1.2MB

"Historical pigment research: the work of the Pigmentum Project"
Valentine Walsh & Nicholas Eastaugh
go to PDF article, 1.4MB


Issue 3, September 2006

"Microscopy and archival research: interpreting results within the context of historical records and traditional practice"
Jane Davies
go to PDF article, 340kB
go to supplement, 35kB

"Advanced microscopic techniques for the characterisation of pigments"
Robin Clark & Tracey Chaplin
go to PDF article, 423kB


Issue 4, December 2006

"18th Century church altarpieces in the Algarve, Portugal: A comparison of the historical documents to the results of the microscopical analysis"
Isabel Pombo Cardoso
go to PDF article, 1.9MB

from Museum, NUS Centre for the Arts -
Seminar Series on Exhibitionary Practices in Singapore:
Contexts, Processes & Trends
go to web-page

I have just uploaded the audio recording of a talk that I gave as part of the NUS Museum Seminar Series back in March 2007. (MP3 file, 13.3 MB; PDF of slides, 882 kB)

"The Relevance of Conservation in Museums"
go to web-page and links

There are also links to various resources that may be of interest.
Do leave your comments or feedback. Cheers!
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from The Art Newspaper -
Elton John concerts in Venice raise concern about possible damage to St Mark's Square
go to article

from The Guardian -
Fears for Gaudi masterpiece as rail tunnel approved
go to article

Another 2 examples of the fragile cause of architecture conservation in the face of relentless urban development and activities.
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