Hi Ann
Thanks so much for your response. I’m glad to hear the
rotating stage idea has been used with little to no negative impact on the
costumes. And, I will certainly bring up the idea of visitor-initiated
turntables. Another list member, Judy Schwender, replied off-list with the wise
thought of ensuring the rotating stages have an automatic cut off in case of
overheating or catching on fire.
Holly Lundberg
From: Textile
Conservators [mailto:TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Frisina, Ann
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 11:28
AM
To: TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Display of costume
idea
I dressed two mannequins, Prince's purple
rain costume, and Lori Line's enormous pink bow costume, to rotate on separate
discs for five years within the MHS Museum. The discs would rotate
and the lights would rise when a visitor pushed the button. Both mannequins
were in cases minimizing build up of dust etc. This visitor initiated
display cut down on the cumulated lux hours. It also served to expose the
costumes to UV/VIS evenly all around. The mannequins were secured to the
rotating turntables and, while I do not know the rpm turned very slowly,
nothing moved. Both these costumes were in stable condition with no
visible changes noted at the time of post exhibit survey. I think
our lux hours were averaging at 38 hours per month at 50 lux. It was
one of the more successful answers to exhibiting fragile textiles for extended
periods of time. I believe we will be using this method again.
Ann Frisina
Textile Conservator
Minnesota Historical Society
345 Kellogg Blvd. W.
St. Paul, MN. 55102
651 259-3385
http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/index.html
From: Textile
Conservators [mailto:TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lundberg, Holly
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 10:41
AM
To: TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Display of costume idea
Our exhibitions department has come up with an idea to
display two mannequin mounted costumes on rotating turntables for an upcoming
costume exhibition. At this time, I haven’t received a lot of information
from the designer other than the turntables she has investigated can rotate 1.5
to 2 rpm, and that she would like to mount them on top of the exhibit platform
rather than flush. I don’t even know which costumes she would like to
exhibit on the turntables so I can’t speak to condition yet. I will
meet with her later in the week. Before that time, I would really appreciate
hearing your thoughts on this “novel” exhibit idea as it’s
one I have never come across. I am especially interested in hearing about
potential problems/issues involved with such an idea (e.g. vibration, etc).
The exhibit is to run 8 months.
Holly Lundberg
Conservator
(312) 799-2069 direct, (312) 799-2369 fax
lundberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chicago History Museum
1601 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60614-6038
www.chicagohistory.org
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