Part Four: Different Approaches and Responses

Historic treatments of Joseph Beuys’s Wirtschaftswerte (1980) were carried out without taking into account the context of the work as a whole, and the varied approaches to treatments over an extended period of time have proven problematic for decision making around the long-term care of the work. The need to make decisions about future restoration treatments in a systematic, reasoned manner became obvious to the professionals caring for the work starting around 2014. Historical, ethical, and technical aspects of the installation were investigated by the Collection Department at S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Belgium. Utilizing the results from this research, a tailor-made decision tree was created that will govern future restoration treatments.

In 2015 the Moderna Museet in Stockholm presented Adrián Villar Rojas’s exhibition Fantasma and subsequently acquired two of the featured works, a then eight-year-old sponge cake and a large installation involving diverse objects made of organic and inorganic materials in various stages of decay. How can the field of conservation engage with such works, which are fundamentally characterized by decay and entropy? In preparation for storage and future display, a strategy to balance conservation issues and artistic intent was sought. Defining the ephemeral parameters of the pieces was a prerequisite. A project to investigate the possibilities for anoxic long-term storage was formulated, and the creation of a combined storage-showcase solution was initiated.

The collection of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires includes Víctor Grippo’s Analogía I (Analogy I, 1970–71), which features potatoes connected via cables to a voltmeter. These materials—unconventional in the museum environment—require unusual conservation procedures and methodologies. The conservation condition of the potatoes is essential to the functioning of the work, as it impacts the energy measurements—a potato’s energy fades as it deteriorates. Therefore, protocols had to be established to ensure that there would always be measurable energy. The conservation of organic matter requires time and specific resources, which must be factored into the protocol if this work is to be exhibited for long periods.

Conservation, as an inclusive discipline that encompasses material and conceptual challenges, can expand interpretive perspectives for works of art. Research on Precipitazioni Sparse (Scattered Precipitations, 2005), an installation by Bruna Esposito made of onion skins scattered on a marble slab, exemplifies the need to share conservation questions with all the professionals involved in staging a work in order to close the gap between the artist’s intention and its transmission among diverse stakeholders. The authors’ investigation included interviews with the artist, private collectors, dealers, and a museum director, and analysis of archival documentation. Like peeling an onion, the artwork’s concept was explored layer by layer, removing existing interpretive assumptions toward a more comprehensive understanding of the values embedded in the artwork’s materials.

Nailed Bread (1973) is a conceptual work by the artist Dragoljub Raša Todosijević in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb. It consists of a piece of bread into which three nails have been hammered. Over the several decades of its existence, it has begun to show signs of decay. In 2010 it was consolidated with a solution of Paraloid B-72 in ethanol, and was subjected to gamma irradiation. Eight years later, again changes were noted and further consolidation was deemed necessary. Four consolidants were tested with the aim of comparing their characteristics and determining the most appropriate for use: Paraloid B-72 (same as previously used), Mowilith 50, Aquazol 200, and Aquazol 500.