Lighting systems

Danielle Allard <danielle.allard<-a t->civilisations< . >ca> writes

>Our museum is planning a major expansion and renovation.  We have
>been asked by the architects to determine what kind of lighting we
>wanted for our art gallery.  I have been reading recent articles by
>S. Michalsky, L. Bowers, etc. and I have basic information on SoLux
>daylight lamps, Verilux, fibre optics, etc.  Still, I don't feel
>comfortable with making a decision on the actual lighting system to
>propose.  Has anyone had any experience working with architects
>regarding the same issue?  What kind of specifications are most
>important and shouldn't be overlooked?   Would hiring a lighting
>engineer be the way to go? Any advice would be welcome.  Thank you
>in advance,

Again, I am afraid, this is an example of trying to specify
requirements without addressing the underlying question.  Before a
museum can decide what type of lighting system they should install,
they must decide what functions the lighting system will perform.
What do you want the lighting to do in the various locations within
the museum. I assume that the main question here refers to
exhibition lighting, not storage areas or other work areas withing
the building.  My first suggestion is to hire a good lighting
designer who has had extensive experience working with museum
collections, and one who understands the various ways that good
exhibition lighting can help fulfill the museum's mission.  This
means also that the lighting designer will understand conservation
issues and work with a conservator to provide lighting that is at
the same time as safe as possible for light-sensitive objects and
that illuminates the objects in a way that makes them look the way
they should.  Admittedly there are precious few of these creatures
around, but they do exist.

Good exhibition lighting can be incredibly effective in making an
exhibition appealing and in directing the viewers gaze.  Lighting
can change the appearance of an object so profoundly, that it may
appear to be two different objects under different lighting
conditions.  For all these reasons, a conservator should not be
expected to provide lighting specs. What they can do is provide the
information on the light and heat sensitivity of certain objects,
the appropriate appearance of the object, the aspects of an object
that should be illuminated (surface texture, gloss, color, shape,
etc.), and any equipment maintenance problems which may affect the
choice of a lighting system.  A good lighting designed would work
with the conservator (and curator) to provide the lighting which
addresses these issue.  Unfortunately, there are many more bad
museum lighting designers than good ones.  I will not make specific
recommendations of the good ones, here, but would be happy to
discuss them on a personal basis.

Remember, it is often not which system has been chosen that makes
for good lighting than how the system has been used. Like
conservation, which we feel should be carried out by conservators,
museum exhibition lighting should be done by the experts in that
field--lighting designers.

Paul Himmelstein

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:40
                 Distributed: Tuesday, October 28, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-40-010
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