New Systems for Document Public Art
from Witty's Blog: Wikipedia, History, Museum -

An interesting series of open-access projects that uses intangible digital media to bring attention to tangible public sculptures and art.  This not only generates more attention and awareness of the artworks, but can also be easily implemented in many, many other contexts.  Every city should have one or more of such projects running!

go to article
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from Getty Conservation Institute -
Art as Evidence:The Scientific Investigation of Works of Art
go to web-page and video

A good overview of issues and possibilities with current technological advances in the examination of artworks. Even as technology surpass our understanding, the primary question remains: "For what ends?"
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from -
Rice [University] students changing art of art storage
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Definitely a good idea that could be expanded and made useful for museums everywhere. However, the part about - 'next steps include filing for a patent and exploring "a startup or some sort of venture."' - does not sit well with the open spirit of sharing in the museum and heritage fields.
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from Delta-V Blog -
Lunar Self-Cleaning Material
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Mimicking a naturally occurring surface coating for man-made structures - in there lies a solution to the preservation of outdoor cultural and heritage artefacts, surely.

See earlier post on self-cleaning coating technologies.
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from Technology Review -
Bone-setting Glue
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go to video

A glue that works underwater - and is activated by the rise in pH level of the surrounding water when released. There must be a use somewhere in the conservation of heritage materials. And there must also be plenty of other examples of useful materials to be had from the weird and wonderful world of nature.
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from Technology Review -
Terahertz Transistor Could Usher in Era of Cheap Surveillance Video Cameras
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An update on development in an imaging technique that had been found to be useful in the technical examination of historic cultural artefacts. Beside being able to reveal hidden features (much like x-rays), the detected signals could also potentially indicate the type of material being examined.

See earlier post on tetrahertz (or T-ray) imaging here.
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from Technology Review -
Pink Silicon Is the New Black
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A marked improvement (with significant cost reduction) in the development of sensors for imaging purpose:

"Black silicon can absorb light over a wider spectrum than can normal silicon--from low-frequency visible light through near- and short-wave-infrared wavelengths that would normally pass right through regular silicon. Another property, called photoconductive gain, gives black silicon much greater sensitivity to light. These properties have identified black silicon as a way to make smaller, cheaper, and lighter silicon-based light detectors and to replace more expensive materials used in infrared detectors found in fiber-optic links, security systems, and elsewhere."

The "elsewhere" allured to in the last sentence would include applications in the technical examination of paintings - akin to peeling back the layers of paint in an attempt to better understand the painting, as well as the working process of the artist.

See separate article for a sense of what infra-red imaging can do in terms of technical examination of paintings.
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from The New York Times -
Incandescent Bulbs Return to the Cutting Edge
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A much needed improvement in energy consumption for museums when that spot of lighting of artefacts that can only be achieved using good old incandescent light bulbs.
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from Wired Magazine -
Packing It In: Why the Foam Noodle Couldn't Cut It in the Protection Racket
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What a waste when something goes under - not because of its an inferior product but because of the failure of gaining a foothold in the market. Perhaps it also points to the innate (and irrational, at times?) cautiousness within the museum and art logistic sector.
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from Technology Review -
A Camera from a Sheet of Fiber
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Not quite earth-shattering preservation news, but a potential new technology for imaging and real-time sensing. With specially engineered sensors (for light, specific colour, temperature or other possible parameters) incorporated into a fabric sheet, such a device could record data pertaining to pollution, moisture, light and temperature - factors which have detrimental effect on materials.

The 2-dimensional array of sensors could also give an actual map of how the monitored parameters change and interact over time. And being thin, the fabric sheet could be attached as a temporary skin onto any surface of interest - stretched behind paintings; pinned onto walls; wrapped around sculptures; stitched into showcases etc.
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from MIT News -
MIT engineers find way to slow concrete creep to a crawl
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A somewhat troubling thought ... What would become of architecture preservation if buildings actually lasts 16,000 years?

Link via BLDG BLOG
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from The New York Times -
Polaroid Lovers Try to Revive Its Instant Film
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go to slide and audio show

Reviving the production of Polaroid films would be a certain hit with photographers and artists. However, it could also offer valuable lessons in a specific aspect of understanding how industrial production balances science with pragmatic concerns - something which heritage preservation could benefit from.
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from Technology Review -
Ultrasound to Go
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A promising miniaturised technology used for medical diagnosis that could also be applied to the documentation and condition assessment of the building fabric of historic sites.
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from Archaeology -
The Past in High-Def
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A nice overview of surface imaging technique, with an eye towards documentation of sites, monuments and ancient structures for preservation purposes.
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from New York Times -
Mapping the Cultural Buzz: How Cool Is That?
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Someone is taking Richard Florida seriously. Where are the next hip places, where are the elite classes agglomerating, what is the next big thing? Somebody has made use of Getty Images to map out the clusters of the creative sectors in US and has suggested that a new geography of creativity is emerging. You want to be cool and get paid, you jolly well be there??
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from New York Times -
ArtBabble Site Opens Window to World of Museums
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go to ArtBabble site



Keeping up with the YouTube generation - and not necessarily a bad thing.
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from The Research Channel -
Reading the Unreadable
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A nice video showcasing the use of advanced imaging technology and computer processing, whereby fragile documents could be "unrolled" virtually without having to subject the original material to physical stresses and handling.

link via ConsDist List.
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Transmaterial
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from Technology Review -
The Year in Materials
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The search for new and innovative materials can often yield solutions to technical problems encountered in the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage. Keeping tabs on the latest development in the field of material science must become part and parcel of a conservator's job.

Link via Make Blog here and here.
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from Dwell Blog -
Smog-Cutting Concrete
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from 5 Witness News -
35W sculptures aren't just for looks
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Incorporating a photo-catalytic coating (see earlier posts and links here) on a free-standing structure in an attempt to clean up urban pollution. This would be an idea to have near museums and archives so that the necessary indoor air-filtration system is not subjected to overloading.
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from Technology Review -
Water-Repelling Metals
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Using a specially formulated coating to treat metal surfaces so that water roll off effortlessly. This would be a great idea for outdoor sculptures and also historic building structures - reducing the risks of degradation due to accumulated water.
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