from Tate Papers - Issue 8 -
Inherent Vice: The Replica and its Implications in Modern Sculpture Workshop
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The latest issue of Tate Papers has a wide-ranging and interesting compilation of papers looking at a core problem in the conservation of modern and contemporary artworks - that of replacing damaged or badly deteriorated components of an artwork (or even the entire artwork).

And while there at Tate's website, do swing round and visit their video podcast TateShots with a host of behing-the-exhibition look at artist's processes and thoughts.

P.S. A big apology to everyone for dropping off the face of this blog in the last few months. Work, both in and outside of Singapore, had been hectic, to say the least. Hope to see more of everyone in the new year!
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from Sydney Morning Herald
Love of art will stop the advancing barbarians
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Happy new year! Hope everyone has a good start. Havent been blogging and working on stuff i should be doing due to great procrastination. It is an easy excuse to blame it on christmas and new year festive, but i had quite a good one. Got a few really nice presents for myself and others and saw a few good mates, which serenely ended my 2007. And if there is one resolution i would ever make and follow religiously, that will be... plan your christmas shopping early!
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First blog of the year is from Richard Flanagan who rethink art again, putting it back where it was once stemmed on a free ground of self-expression from the nowadays-let's-sell-art-and-Guggenheim era.

Like art, some things in life, you just cant buy and sell, like love from a mother, the crush on the girl in your class, the finest moment in your life, the thought you have for the person you are buying your next christmas present for. And i dont think art has as a category as its own strictly(am i right to say that??)- it almost encompasses everything in life from feelings, lifestyle, sciences to paintbrush. There is so much about art and human life one can marvel. Let's all keep exploring and live a better wiser year. Peace. x
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from Archaeology -
Carved in Living Color
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Using ultra-violet light examination - a technique that is commonly employed in conservation documentation - evidence of paint application could be detected on Greek marble sculptures, which were once thought to be unpainted. But whether one feels that such "re-colouring" adds to or detracts from the historical understanding of these sculptures will depend on the interplay between one's rational sense and aesthetic taste.
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from Wired -
Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin
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The return of the good old vinyl records could actually spell good news for the preservation of audio-based (intangible) heritage. This is because it is still possible to "read" from degraded or damaged vinyl discs and to reconstruct the sounds - see earlier post here. Whereas, the longevity of CDs and DVDs is still a matter of debate and contention - see earlier post here.
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from Wooster Collective -
The Laundry Detergent Paintings of Craig Paul Nowak
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An amazing use of the effect of ultra-violet fluorescence, which is an optical property commonly exploited in the examination of materials prior to conservation treatment. In this case, the optical brighteners used in ordinary laundry detergent becomes the artist's medium (and message).
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from The Plain Dealer -
Paint experts say it's very unlikely Pollock had access to pigments patented after he died
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When technical analysis is at odds with connoisseurship, it unnecessarily plays up the seeming separation of (and power play between) a humanistic and a scientific approach in the study of art. In actual fact, art has to be understood as occpying that intersection between taste and materials, combining both creative ideas and skillful execution.

Also see earlier post here.
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from The Telegraph -
Shanghai: Art Deco capital - for now
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It will take plenty of political and popular will for Shanghai, which is emphatically leading the economic charge in China, to escape the fate that had befallen the other modernist cities and be considered as the last vestige of Art Deco architeture in the world! Leaving it to free market forces will undoubtedly ensure that architecture remnants of the Art Deco movement will be merely textbook curosities.
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from Wired -
Neutron Beams Search for Da Vinci's Lost Masterpiece
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from Los Angels Times -
Scientific tools hunt for lost Da Vinci art
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A brief look at using the technology of Neutron Activation Analysis to "pierce" through an existing wall, hoping to uncover one of Leonardo's known but missing fresco.

Als see earlier post here on the use of Neutron Activation Analysis in the examination of museum artefacts.
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from Underwire -
'Reverse Graffiti' Artist Creates Tunnel of Skulls
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An interesting take on "cleaning" as art, and how the act of overall cleaning and washing, in this case, "destroys" the work of art.
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from The Guardian -

After 2,500 years, Parthenon treasures move to new home
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Should we give the Parthenon marbles back?
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Should London finally lose the Parthenon marbles?
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Another step in the saga of the Parthenon marbles. See earlier posts here.
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