APERTUM

Weblog Migration For all readers: I'll be migrati...

2007-06-21T20:28:00.000+08:00

Weblog Migration

For all readers: I'll be migrating the current blog over to blogspot as I have hit the webpage limit of my internet account. Disruption will probably occur over the next few days. So do bookmark the new link - apertum.blogspot.com - and continue browsing. For those who grab posts via a feed reader, do check the new link to get the correct feed URL. Cheers!
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from The New York Times - Report Faults Oversight...

2007-06-19T22:07:00.000+08:00

from The New York Times -
Report Faults Oversight by Smithsonian Regents
go to article

An update on the re-organisation of the Smithsonian Institution, after the departure of the chief executive (see earlier post here).
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from The Guardian - National Gallery takes to the...

2007-06-14T20:53:00.000+08:00

from The Guardian -
National Gallery takes to the streets
go to article
go to pictures

Definitely an attention-grabbing way in museum publicity - and (almost) literally taking the art to the public ... in public spaces:

It's not often that you come across a Caravaggio or Van Gogh while walking around London's Soho, but for the next 12 weeks, the National Gallery is taking its masterpieces to the streets. In a bid to give the public a taste of the collection, the gallery has hung life-sized reproductions around the capital. Each painting is framed and accompanied by an information plaque, and passersby can phone a number for an audio guide of the works.

What a wonderful idea - brightening the urban-scape and promoting the museum in one fell swoop!
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from Institute of Conservation (UK) - Conservatio...

2007-06-13T22:59:00.000+08:00

from Institute of Conservation (UK) -
Conservation Awards 2007
go to short-lists

Once again, the annual awards given out for outstanding conservation and digital preservation projects in the UK. Results will be announced on 27th September at the British Museum.
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from Conservation DistList - British Library Cent...

2007-06-13T22:42:00.000+08:00

from Conservation DistList -
British Library Centre for Conservation Microsite
go to web-site

An additional web resource for heritage conservation. You can also watch videosof conservators at work ! (Thanks to Conservation DistList for the prior alert).
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from Radio Singapore International - Heritage Con...

2007-06-13T22:15:00.000+08:00

from Radio Singapore International -
Heritage Conservation Centre
go to programme notes
go to MP3 (2.29 Mb)

A nice (audio) overview of the work that goes on behind the scene.
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from Sydney Morning Herald - Don't shoot the Texta...

2007-06-03T19:38:00.000+08:00

from Sydney Morning Herald -
Don't shoot the Texta messengers
go to article

Steve Grody's new illustrated book Graffiti L.A. is out now.

I confess - I have a thing for graffiti. It all began when my to-die-for lecturer talked about graffiti in one of my urban geography classes. From there, street arts and graffiti have always been on my outlook lens. Living in clean, (almost)utopian suburbia of Singapore, there aren't many chances to meet street arts so much often. In fact, before uni, I didn't know how "graffiti" look like. Maybe there was some underground making of provocative street art going on but they weren't unlikely to make friendly headlines in the mainstream media in Singapore. We are simply taught that tagging on public properties is strictly unlawful. And in whole wide world, graffiti is labeled as an anti-social activity in the orthodox urban planning dictionary.

While in Sydney, i witnessed many impressive graffiti works whose forms transcended into "bold, colourful designs as beautification of locations that will normally considered urban blight." Those expressions tales a whole lots of social problems which many cities are facing - poverty, social marginalisation, political struggle, self-identity, masculinity etc. Behind each mural carries significant tales, as much as John Denver missed his countrytown while singing his "Country Road"!

"Surf or Die" , 2006
- undying passion of surfing culture in Australia

"I've a dream", 2006
-the aboringinals' longing for peace while struggling with the present urbanity.

The role of "place" put graffiti in another debate. I don't know any museums that have housed graffiti works but its art identity has been always been contested under a spatial art-political regime. I ask:
- Is graffiti an art creation? Is this "out-of place" form simply not an art?
- Will its status quo be redefined as an "art" only if it enters into the "sacred spaces" of a art gallery? from out-of-ghetto image to the high-end art....?
- will its meaning change under a process of displacement from its street ghetto to the art gallery?

I await comments, responses and those who already have a read on the new book. Peace.
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from Washington Post - Saving Our Digital Heritag...

2007-06-03T11:37:00.000+08:00

from Washington Post -
Saving Our Digital Heritage
go to article

This article asks - which also can be taken as as a sort of counterpoint to the earlier post on the on-going effort by the British Library to archive a snap-shot of e-mails, although not directly related in any way:

"Responsible preservation of our most valued digital data requires answers to key questions: Which data should we keep and how should we keep it? How can we ensure that we can access it in five years, 100 years or 1,000 years? And, who will pay for it?"

These are also questions that museum collections must face up to, albeit phrased slightly differently.
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from People's Daily Online - China establishes in...

2007-06-03T11:09:00.000+08:00

from People's Daily Online -
China establishes initial database for intangible cultural heritage
go to article

Another effort in the Herculean challenge of preserving cultural expressions. Documentation and database lists are but an initial aspect of the overall effort. The long-term goal is for such cultural expressions to find contemporary relevance. And this daunting task can be a bit less so if we see such cultural expressions as a kind of "commons" which must entail the responsible use and preservation by everyone.

This long-term goal of preservation might run counter to current notions of intellectual property, which hinges on legislative measures to facilitate commercial exploitation in the first instance (see related links on WIPO site on "Traditional Knowledge" and "Traditional Cultural Expressions"). The dilemma could arise, say in a hypothetical situation, when an original ethnic group could not continue its intangible cultural expressions, but another public institution or non-profit organisation wishes to, then would this mean that the effort would have to be cleared through an endless series of legislative measures and commercial licenses? This sounds like a death knell for intangible heritage preservation efforts.
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from The New York Times - British Library, You’ve...

2007-05-31T15:20:00.000+08:00

from The New York Times -
British Library, You’ve Got Mail, and It’s Not Spam
go to article

Another effort at digital preservation and this time using the unique medium of e-mail to document a sample of "everyday" (and some might say "mundane") life. The larger objective of the entire exercise being to build "the first archive of its kind" as a sort of "electronic time capsule".

"The British Library is famous for its collections of 'official history.' What’s great about the collection of e-mail messages is that it’s a 'democratic resource' that shows how people really lived."

The claim that this collection of messages are somehow representative is perhaps a result of wishful thinking. It would be more accurate to qualify that it "shows how people with access to e-mails really lived" in a world where only 12% have access to a computer.
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from News@Nature.com - Plastics for posterity go ...

2007-05-27T14:27:00.000+08:00

from News@Nature.com -
Plastics for posterity
go to article

A brief round-up of the 3-day conference, "Plastics: Looking at the Future & Learning from the Past", held at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

See also an earlier related article ("Plastics Preservation at the V&A" by Brenda Keneghan) in the V&A Conservation Journal.
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from The Guardian - Tate Modern has sold its soul...

2007-05-27T12:03:00.000+08:00

from The Guardian -
Tate Modern has sold its soul - and us - down the river
go to article

A sharp critique of the latest programme development at the Tate Modern, especially the move to feature more of the private collection of the Swiss Bank, UBS. There is a larger and more complex issue of securing funding, which is not helped by the UK government's latest move to divert more funding away from the arts and heritage in preparation for the London Olympics. Nevertheless, the author argues that:

"Tate Modern belongs to the British people. Its space cannot be sold, its codes must not be breached simply because the government doesn't care to support it as it should."

This line of criticism also brings to mind an earlier article in the New York Times (see previous post) which also regaled against the commercial excess and frenzy in US museums. Perhaps the larger and more pertinent question ought to be: "What can be done about the situation?"
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from Tate Modern - Talks & Discussions - The Soun...

2007-05-27T10:43:00.000+08:00

from Tate Modern - Talks & Discussions -
The Sound of Materials
go to web-page
MP3 recording (89.9 MB)

from Tate Modern -
What can matter be? A podcast about materials, science and art
go to web-page

The talk discusses the art and science of sounds and the influence of different materials on the production of sound, while the podcast (self-service) tour offers the listener a quirky take on the the physical and material aspects of various collections and premises within Tate Modern.

The podcast tour was done in conjunction with Mark Miodownik, who first set up the Materials Library at King's College, London (see earlier post for additional information). An article was also written up in Materials Today (PDF article , 1.4 MB) on one of the exhibit being examined - "Artist's Shit" by Piero Manzoni.

Both the talk and podcast tour highlight an often neglected aspect of our aesthetic experience, which is the realisation that the choice of materials and their physical construction often exert a significant influence on the final aesthetic experience, be it visually, acoustically or tactually. Hence, the physical deterioration of materials in artworks - which art conservation efforts seek to slow and reduce - will also inevitably affect the aesthetic impact of artworks in time to come, whether intended or otherwise.
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from BBC News - 'History itself has been lost' go...

2007-05-21T22:49:00.000+08:00

from BBC News -
'History itself has been lost'
go to article
also
Blaze ravages historic Cutty Sark
go to article
also
In Pictures: Cutty Sark
go to photos

A sad update. See earlier post on the conservation and significance of this tea clipper docked at Greenwich.
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from BBC Radio 4 Restoring the Cutty Sark go to pr...

2004-09-27T21:27:00.000+08:00

from BBC Radio 4
Restoring the Cutty Sark
go to programme web-page

also

from BBC news
Landmark ship 'faces collapse'
go to article

The latest from BBC Radio 4 Material World explores the thinking and preparation which goes into the conservation of the historic ship, Cutty Sark, currently dry-docked in Greenwich, UK. The conservation plan behind the full-size ship involves complex computer-modeling for physical movements and changes as the ship is being treated using electrolysis to extract sodium salts from its iron hull. It is also interesting to note that the 2 key personnel being interviewed on the BCC Radio 4 programme are not conservators - perhaps, a sign of things to come as conservation projects no longer remain the sole domain of the "conservation" profession, but more as a cross-disciplinary enterprise?

from The New York Times - Sculpture (and Nerves) ...

2007-05-20T22:05:00.000+08:00

from The New York Times -
Sculpture (and Nerves) of Steel
go to article
go to audio clip

A behind-the-scene account of the installation of Richard Serra's massive sculptures at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Makes one wonder where does art end and engineering begin?

Also, see a time-lapsed video of a couple of sculptures installed in the MoMA Sculpture Gardens. (Link courtesy of Modern Art Notes)
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from The New York Times - Do You Know Where That ...

2007-04-07T13:05:00.000+08:00

from The New York Times -
Do You Know Where That Art Has Been?
go to article

Yet another article on the sometimes dubious antiquities trade which attracts and support the illicit trade in antiquities. However, whit sets this article apart from others on the same topic is that it is featured in the business section of a prominent newspaper.

Two other earlier audio programmes from NPR which also discussed the complex and entangled web of antiquities trade and the attempts to stamp out illicit activities.

"Getty Villa: Elegance Hides Darker Story"
20th January 2006
(go to web-page)

"A Trove of Stolen Treasure"
17th May 2006
(go to web-page)
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from GCI - Conservation Newsletter - Volume 22, S...

2007-05-14T21:25:00.000+08:00

from GCI - Conservation Newsletter -
Volume 22, Spring 2007: Environmental Management
go to contents
download PDF (4.6 MB)

from Tate Research Papers -
"Historically Accurate Reconstructions of Artists’ Oil Painting Materials"
by Leslie Carlyle and Maartjee Witlox
go to article

A few interesting articles updated recently. From the Getty Conservation Newsletter, a whole issue dedicated to the idea of passive environmental control, all the more relevant in the context of today's increasing concerns with sustainability and depletion of natural resources. In the Tate Research Papers, an article which discusses the relevance of material and scientific analysis in the context of art historical research.
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from The Sunday Times - Behind the scenes at the ...

2007-05-09T21:20:00.000+08:00

from The Sunday Times -
Behind the scenes at the British Museum
go to article

One more example of the institutional transformation (of a museum) beginning with a deep sense of passion, intellectual honesty and inspired leadership. Copious amount of funding is not, and cannot be, a necessary starting condition - that comes afterwards. It makes one wonder if the rush to build museums in a top-down fashion is doing it the wrong way round and, perhaps, for all the wrong reasons.
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s/pores: New Directions in Singapore Studies go to...

2007-05-03T22:44:00.000+08:00

s/pores: New Directions in Singapore Studies
go to online journal

Citizen Historian: The Unrewarded Amateur Conscience
go to online journal

Archives & Social Studies: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Research
go to online journal

Beginning Preservation: A forum for discussing preservation and conservation
go to weblog

Added several links on the sidebar which point to online journals and weblog that may be of interest.
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from Royal Microscopical Society - InFocus go to ...

2007-05-02T21:40:00.000+08:00

from Royal Microscopical Society -
InFocus
go to web-page

There are a few articles, available on-line, related to the examination and technical analysis of paint / pigment samples from the newsletter of the RMS.

Issue 1, March 2006

"Forensics and Microscopy in Authenticating Works of Art"
Peter Paul Biro
go to PDF article, 930kB

"Microscopical techniques applied to traditional paintings"
Joyce H Townsend and Katrien Keune
go to PDF article, 1.6MB

"Scientific dating of paintings"
Nicholas Eastaugh
go to PDF article, 1.1MB

Issue 2, June 2006

"'Not a day without a line drawn': Pigments and painting techniques of Roman Artists"
Ruth Siddall
go to PDF article, 1.2MB

"Historical pigment research: the work of the Pigmentum Project"
Valentine Walsh & Nicholas Eastaugh
go to PDF article, 1.4MB

Issue 3, September 2006

"Microscopy and archival research: interpreting results within the context of historical records and traditional practice"
Jane Davies
go to PDF article, 340kB
go to supplement, 35kB

"Advanced microscopic techniques for the characterisation of pigments"
Robin Clark & Tracey Chaplin
go to PDF article, 423kB

Issue 4, December 2006

"18th Century church altarpieces in the Algarve, Portugal: A comparison of the historical documents to the results of the microscopical analysis"
Isabel Pombo Cardoso
go to PDF article, 1.9MB

from Museum, NUS Centre for the Arts - Seminar Se...

2007-05-01T19:10:00.000+08:00

from Museum, NUS Centre for the Arts -
Seminar Series on Exhibitionary Practices in Singapore:
Contexts, Processes & Trends
go to web-page

I have just uploaded the audio recording of a talk that I gave as part of the NUS Museum Seminar Series back in March 2007. (MP3 file, 13.3 MB; PDF of slides, 882 kB)

"The Relevance of Conservation in Museums"
go to web-page and links

There are also links to various resources that may be of interest.
Do leave your comments or feedback. Cheers!
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from The Art Newspaper - Elton John concerts in V...

2007-05-01T08:08:00.000+08:00

from The Art Newspaper -
Elton John concerts in Venice raise concern about possible damage to St Mark's Square
go to article

from The Guardian -
Fears for Gaudi masterpiece as rail tunnel approved
go to article

Another 2 examples of the fragile cause of architecture conservation in the face of relentless urban development and activities.
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from New York Times - Arsenic and Old Photos go t...

2007-04-02T22:07:00.000+08:00

from New York Times -
Arsenic and Old Photos
go to article

An interesting article on the work of Dusan Stulik at the Getty Conservation Institute on the identification and compilation of materials used in the making of photographs. Dusan's work is in part driven by the ubiquitous popularity of digital photography resulting in "an impending disaster in photographic conservation and scholarship: the abandonment and loss of many decades’ worth of information about traditional photos as the switch was made to digital." The endpoint is a reference publication:

"[...] sometime in the next few years, a door-stopping Atlas of Analytical Signatures of Photographic Processes, a chemical characterization of every known (and, until now, some previously unknown) means of making pictures."

See also information from GCI's website on the Research Project on the Conservation of Photographs.
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from National Geographic News - New Layer of Anci...

2007-04-27T20:14:00.000+08:00

from National Geographic News -
New Layer of Ancient Greek Writings Detected in Medieval Book
go to article

Another update on yet another manuscript found previously erased from the well-known Archimedes Palimpsest (see earlier posts here and here). This time, Aristotle's text was found, in addition to earlier texts by Archimedes and Hyperides that were found using multi-spectral imaging and image analysis.
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