Dry ice

Clare Meredith <clare [at] cmconservation__demon__co__uk> writes

>I've been asked by a client, a public art gallery, if dry ice can
>have any effect on paintings and sculpture.  The gallery's
>considering a request to allow a performance to be held on the
>premises which involves the use of dry ice.  The space is a
>2-storey internal 'courtyard' with plenty of ventilation.  Any
>comments?

A couple of years ago we were facing the same request for our 200
year old museum, and we refused on the following grounds: the
machine producing dry ice needs boiling water to function (steam),
the text on the canisters recommends thorough ventilation (which we
could not provide) and the fact that a residue of tiny drops appears
to be left on all objects in the room. This last information was
given to us by Mr. Juette from the Netherlands Institute of Cultural
Heritage in Amsterdam. I do not know whether there is a publication.
If you need this, maybe you could ask the NICH.

Robien van Gulik
Teylers Museum


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:12
                  Distributed: Friday, August 11, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-14-12-008
                                  ***