THIS IS NOT MODERN ART

I would rather...

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:55:43 +1000

Be faffing about with themes and colours on the blog than writing up faux condition reports.

Number of times a week I question my life choices, particularly choosing to do my Masters: 5

momatalks: At the conclusion of our Contemporary Art Forum: Art...

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:10:27 +1000

Glenn Wharton at Contemporary Art Forum 2013. Photo by Paula Court

Trevor Paglen at Contemporary Art Forum 2013. Photo by Paula Court

Wharton and Paglen at Contemporary Art Forum 2013. Photo by Paula Court

momatalks:

At the conclusion of our Contemporary Art Forum: Art at Large: Art Making in the Long View, we are sharing some reflections on Tumblr. This is the fourth and last post in the series.

In “The Hypothetical Audience,” artist Trevor Paglen and art conservator Glenn Wharton explored how the meaning of an artwork evolves over time. Wharton spoke about his work with artists to document their intentions, since effectively preserving a piece’s meaning over time might actually require actions that seem incongruous with conservation, such as altering the physical work to preserve its desired effect in a given context. Along these lines, Paglen revealed that his intention in The Last Pictures is “deeply paradoxical,” since he aims to both foster dialogue on the included images as representations of society and also reflect on the reality that images are only legible based on context—an intention that raises questions about what components conservators should preserve.

A number of takeaways emerged, but one stood out in particular: as artists think increasingly broadly about artworks responding to their surroundings in the long term, the field of conservation is becoming more engaged in the process of treating works to avoid simply freezing them in a pristine state.

The changing conservation paradigm, interesting!

"To get back my youth I would do anything in the world except take exercise, get up early, or be..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:46:30 +1000

“To get back my youth I would do anything in the world except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.”

- Oscar Wilde- The Picture of Dorian Gray (via quotesandnonsense)

Modern Art Forgery?

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:55:05 +1000

Modern Art Forgery?:

Jonathan Jones: Peter Doig’s prices are as abstract as his paintings. Attempts to verify this picture â and boost its value by millions â show the art market has survived the recession with ease

tiny-librarian: A portrait of the Comtesse de Provence before...

Thu, 09 May 2013 05:07:56 +1000

tiny-librarian:

A portrait of the Comtesse de Provence before and after restoration work was done on it.

Source

thevintagethimble: Edwardian HairstylesA collection of...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 21:11:37 +1000

thevintagethimble:

Edwardian Hairstyles
A collection of Edwardian photographs, depicting some of the hairstyles of the time, like the Low Pompadour. Hatpin Hairstyle. Side-Swirls. Flapper (The title ‘Flapper’ originally referred to teenage girls
who wore their hair in single plait which often terminated in a wide ribbon bow.) & the pompadour.

Victorian Hairstyles Here [x]

I’m gonna grow my hair and pick one of these and wear it until I’m grey and be classy forever.

GPOY in red stage

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:13:48 +1000

GPOY in red stage

studentconservators-blog: Things happening in the lab this...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:48:30 +1000

studentconservators-blog:

Things happening in the lab this week, featuring concentrating at the bench, toning paper and when objects students try to make starch paste.

I spy with my little eye…. my first year class!

cookie2-2: Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Young Woman in...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:33:48 +1100

cookie2-2: Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Young Woman in...

Fingerprints to Authenticate Paintings?

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:12:42 +1100

Fingerprints to Authenticate Paintings?:

I love this article. I love it for the possibility and I love it for David Grann. I don’t love that the subject got all law-suit-y

I'm really intrigued by your essay about the connoisseurs now! I'm sure you have read Morelli etc.? Hopefully we can have a discussion about it! :)

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:31:42 +1100

Morelli is next on the list! I’m in the middle of Friedländer right now and he’s not so bad. The earlier connoisseurs don’t seem to have the same insecurities as these modern gentlemen.

The majority of the articles I’ve been reading have been written in the last 10 years or so and I feel that this crisis of confidence is a fairly modern thing. We’re in a very litigious age and science is, well, science. There’s plenty of room in that mix for these dudes, whose careers are based on giving opinions that will make or break an objects worth, to feel attacked, under-valued, and defensive.

As a student conservator I do, of course, side with science at this stage but we shall see if anyone manages to change my mind!

P.s: If you have an hour to spare and haven’t seen it already this episode of ‘Fake or Fortune’:(http://youtu.be/SBCADQL7Nio) demonstrates my…distaste at the connoisseur/droit moral system.

Why Connoisseurship Matters.

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:50:51 +1100

I am working on an essay that examines the connoisseur’s methods of authentication vs the conservator’s and so am reading many many articles, blog posts, etc with the above title.

All I’ve gathered so far is that ‘the experts’, the connoisseurs, are pompous and scared of their growing irrelevancy.

I only hope that by the time I’ve finished my research and writing this thing that I’ll have a different opinion!

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Fire+engulfs+museum+in+so...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:47:56 +1100

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Fire+engulfs+museum+in+south+London/29132

Fire threatens the Cuming Museum in Walworth, south London, home to artefacts from all around the world, including objects from Roman London, Chinese ornaments and African tribal costumes. Founded in 1906, it contains the Cuming family’s private collection as well as the Lovett collection of London superstitions, archaeology and social history telling the story of the development of Southwark. The fire broke out at around noon today (25 March). Around 120 firefighters and 20 fire engines are tackling the blaze in the Victorian-era town hall building, which is also home to a local library.

buzzfeed: Museums are really weird. Where’s mine I...

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 15:45:53 +1100

buzzfeed:

Museums are really weird.

Where’s mine I wonder?

How to make book mounts

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 07:33:09 +1100

How to make book mounts:

sofielh:

Miniature book mounts that is. A very useful how-to.

Cute and handy! Two of my favourite things.

Interview with Ken Perenyi, American Art Forger

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:32:59 +1100

Interview with Ken Perenyi, American Art Forger:

“I have, in my photo archive, photos of at least a thousand paintings, many of which I’ve passed off as originals. Now, there’s another portion of that collection of photos that I have sold to various people through the years—so-called “dealers” of dubious repute. Folks who have bought them knowing they were fakes, but who probably sold them as originals. So I’d hesitate to give any more specific numbers, but I’m working on my archives, trying to sort it all out for future publication, a catalogue raisonné.”

Banksy work stolen and pegged to sell for a ridiculous amount of...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:44:09 +1100

Banksy work stolen and pegged to sell for a ridiculous amount of money

Illegal art turned mega-star illegally removed and illegally sold online.

I don’t even know which parts of this story are the worst.

Website owner Frederic Thut said it was being sold by a “well-known collector” but wouldn’t name the person.

He told The Sun he was offered it along with Banksy’s Wet Dog Bethlehem 2007, adding: “The collector signed a contract saying everything was above board.

“If he has lied to us it is important to know. But I don’t think he lies to us.”

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4800007/Banksy-painting-hacked-off-wall-set-to-fetch-up-to-450k.html#ixzz2LHzYJY9O

THIS ALL SOUNDS PERFECTLY LEGIT. WE DON’T THINK HE LIES TO US. ALL ABOVE BOARD HERE. *WHISTLES*

Medieval, so hot right now

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:30:44 +1100

straightgirl:

i love medieval art it’s like

first there’s a bull just shittin on this guy

gremlin dude shooting arrows into a mermaids ass ok

someone fuckin boneless dancing to this hot violin song what

my favorite one a bunch of amputees beating the shit outta each other with crutches

idk why they call it the dark ages when they’re obviously so fun

In Art, Freedom of Expression Doesn’t Extend to ‘Is It Real?’

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:34:42 +1100

In Art, Freedom of Expression Doesn’t Extend to ‘Is It Real?’:

Fear of legal action is causing art experts to hold their tongues regarding potential forgeries.

Seriously?

Thomas Hoving would not stand for this sort of bullshit.

circumlocutionist: So what’re you gonna do with your life? I...

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:36:40 +1100

circumlocutionist:

So what’re you gonna do with your life?

I figured since I tend to yammer about it, I’d let you guys in on what I’ve been doing in the conservation lab, and talking about what it really means.

When we see frames in museums, they look something similar to the quality of the top image. But there are many more pieces, unseen in the bowels of many museums that are less than perfect. For instance this frame only has one of its original corners. And its the job of the conservator to make these pieces fit for display not for just now, but many years to come.

First off, conservation is not restoration. Restoration is aiming to return something to its original state, (which is even more work, which is very hard to imagine.) Conservation, is treating an object so that its age shines through, but gracefully. There are some cracks, some wear, the object is not perfect because it has a life force all its own that’s uniquely it.

Second, it combines three areas of expertise, studio art so you have the skills to repair and handle these pieces, art history, so that you know the background of them and the materials used to make them, and chemistry, so that you use materials that will not react with each other and potentially destroy the pieces.

Anything done in conservation must be undoable. In case you mess up, in case fifty years from now the filling agents you have found to be using could do x,y,z to the object, and needs to be replaced with more contemporary, safer materials for the object.

For instance in all the fills that are pictured, I’m using various ratios of polyfilla and aquazol.

Polyfilla : a (UK) brand of what is essentially spackle, and can be used to fill cracks in pretty much anything. It’s safe, non-toxic, easy to sand, but is water soluable. Good because it’s impermanent, (the best way to remove excess is to actually use spit on a cotton swab.)

The powder is then mixed with aquazol: which is a high performance, water soluable (again very important,) safe, polymer material used for binding.

Different ratios give different thicknesses from liquids to fill hairline fractures to a doughy substance to slather on large missing pieces.

Just to get a gauge of the time it takes to go into this, all this is the product of 6 hours of work over 2 days. And that’s why conservation is so expensive. (Though if you took care of your shit in the first place there wouldn’t be so much to do!)

(Not all of this work is solely mine, as it is a group program and effort to conserve these frames. But these are the areas where I have done heavy work. They are not perfect, and they are in many ways unfinished. But I am proud.)

Frames are like, my fifth favourite things ever.

The Rock is third.