Kate Cuffari is a sculpture and decorative art conservationist who works at the PMA. At the lecture on Tuesday she explained conservation and what her job title entails. Conservation involves:
- repair with materials that have reversible properties (so things can easily be fixed if repaired wrong)
- non-destructive analysis (x-rays) to help in the dating process of artwork
- taking very, very small pieces from the works of art and using technology and the sample to help date the art work
- preventative measure
Kate also proposed the question: what causes art to go away?
- willful destruction
- intended degradation
- insufficient documentation of event, etc
- un-intended degradation
Kate then went on to talk about many different pieces she has worked with or heard about and explained the pieces' "stories." Many artists would only use materials that degraded, meaning that their artwork wouldn't last forever...others changed the material that they worked with so their work would last forever, etc.
To end the lecture, Kate charged us to think about the material and its' properties before we use it, and how or if we want our work to survive...
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