Screen print

Martin Strebel <rest [at] atelierstrebel__ch> writes

>I have a silk screen print on paper measuring about 65 by 40 mm. The
>image consists mainly of two monochrome rectangles measuring about
>320 by 175 mm each. There is a crease with a wrinkle of about 30 mm
>in the orange coloured rectangle. This crease must be the result of
>an object which has fallen on the print. The support of the print is
>a two ply cardboard with a white finishing layer on both sides,
>presumably chalk or kaolin with adhesive. The print is a piece of
>concrete art from Willy Muller-Brittnau, a well known contemporary
>Swiss artist.
>
>Has anyone an idea how to eliminate this kind of crease ?
>Humidifying in the humidity chamber and stretching on the "karibari"
>(Japanese drying board) could be an option. In order to stretch it,
>I would have to glue strips of Japanese paper all around the edges.
>I fear that on removing them they could lift some of the white
>finishing layer. I do not think that the crease can be eliminated
>completely, but  the effect could perhaps be reduced.  As you all
>know the beauty of concrete prints and paintings depend very much on
>a smooth, flat surface, and thus only reducing the crease might not
>be satisfying.

I have no knowledge of "concrete" art, except that made with
concrete.  But I have had lots of experience with serigraphs (silk
screen prints). And I presume that the paper size is in cm, not mm.

It would be important to know if the ink has bubbled or has a raised
area, which would affect the treatment. In the 20's to 40's or 50's,
some screen printing inks were water soluble, but most contemporary
prints are not. Later inks are brittle when dry and not expandable
as they can develop cracks on drying after being expanded by
humidity.  Other inks have extenders and are more flexible and some
inks, mainly with extenders, do not tolerate heat.

I think that in your case, I would start working from the reverse
with a pencil thin stream of cool humidity, rather slowly. perhaps
impregnating with Methyl Cellulose then allowing it to dry under
pressure. Maybe a local application of humidity on the front first,
then turning the print over and working from the back Experience
will tell you how much humidity you can apply without effecting the
surface.If you find that heat can be tolerated, a small heated
spatula might be helpful.

Murray Lebwohl


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:54
                 Distributed: Tuesday, February 5, 2002
                       Message Id: cdl-15-54-008
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