Foam rubber

Larry Hutchings <history<-a t->infolink< . >morris< . >mn< . >us> writes

>We recently acquired a ca. 1970 Decatur Radar unit from our local
>highway patrol. The red foam rubber padding in the case is in an
>advanced stage of decomposition.
>
>Space is at a premium in our small
>museum, and storing the parts separately from the case is not an
>option. My question is: what are the ethical considerations (from a
>conservator's point of view) of removing the deteriorated foam
>entirely and replacing it with ethafoam?


I very much appreciate the consideration of conservation ethics when
discussing questions of removal of original material, but in cases
where this seems a reasonable choice for other reasons, it is
important to consider exactly what the recommendation not to remove
original material comes from. Some original material on artifacts
has potential historical importance; this is not true of the item in
question, since foam rubber is a common manufactured material of this
period. (In cases where original material may be important it can
also be removed and retained.) The conceptual issue of the whole
object not being "real" seems to me in this case to be of much less
importance than having the object retain its original appearance of
use.

The Commentaries on the Code of Ethics that are being written by AIC
may be useful in situations like this.  Many well-accepted
conservation treatments involve the removal of some original
material;  the new commentaries regard original surface in a
different category from other original material.  This is not to say
that this should be done routinely, but I don't feel there is
anything unethical in this case about getting rid of the foam
rubber, which is undoubtedly making a mess and is of potential damage
because of off-gassing.  The primary unethical approach is to do
something without considering its ramifications and any other
alternatives.

Barbara Appelbaum

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:71
                 Distributed: Monday, February 10, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-71-001
                                  ***