Ethics and materials

In response to Simon Hogg on 'Ethics and Materials':

It seems to me it really should be up to the artists  to decide if
permanence of materials is an issue which is relevant to their work,
if they are interested we should certainly provide the information.
Often it is not just a question of the materials used but the way in
which they are used and what material combinations are put together.

In N.Y. some of the art schools have conservators come in to do a
few classes about materials and techniques,those artist interested
develop awareness of materials and the rest ignore it.

Since I work much with contemporary art I do get a fair amount of
inquiries from artists. Sometimes the best way to deal with the
issues brought up by the artist is to go for a studio visit and
spend time looking at the artists working method, it is then
possible to suggest substituting one material for another without
changing the artists working method. Often the primary complaint of
the artists I have spoken with is that the materials recommended by
conservators force them to change their working technique and that
immediately puts them off.

Daria Keynan
Paper conservator
New York.

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:35
                 Distributed: Monday, October 16, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-9-35-009
                                  ***