MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
VCE education resource - case study 2012
studio arts: art industry contexts
Installation and promotion of a new exhibtion:
Liquid Archive
CURATORIAL COLLABORATION
PREPARING THE MUSEUM BETWEEN EXHIBITIONS
MUMA curators consult intensively with contemporary artists, colleagues
and collections when they are considering which artists to include in an
exhibition and how an exhibition might be designed. Some artists have
strong preferences for showing a work in a particular way. Options are
discussed in conversation and via email in the months prior to the exhibition
and a detailed installation schedule is developed. The curator works with
artists and other colleagues to decide which artworks go where, according
to the rationale for the exhibition and within practical and budget limitations.
A gallery plan is established to coordinate exhibition display, narrative and
itineraries.
After the prior exhibition is deinstalled, preparation within the MUMA
galleries begins for the next exhibition. This process includes cleaning,
repairing any damage to plaster and repainting walls if necessary. Prior
to the installation of Liquid Archive two artificial walls were constructed to
create spaces to isolate audio-visual and sound artworks from one another.
These rooms were painted dark grey and sound baffles were installed.
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
Tues – Fri 10am – 5pm; Sat 12 – 5pm
MUMA museum technicians install
Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin
The Brother’s Suicide, June 08 2008,
2008
MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
VCE education resource - case study 2012
ARTWORKS ARRIVE AT THE MUSEUM
Packing crates containing artworks arrive at MUMA and are stored prior
to being installed. For example this crate has travelled from Canada and
contains the dot matrix printers and other electronic devices on loan from
the artists collective called [The User]. Crates are generally custom-built to
secure artworks and protect them from damage during transit. This crate is
‘off the shelf’ and is known as a road case, it is of a type more often used by
musicians to transport equipment when they tour, it has built-in wheels and
padding, as well as special easy to secure latches
Above right: One of the four dot-matrix printers from the installation Quartet
for dot matrix printers sits upon a table that has specially designed and built
by [The User], ready to be connected. The printer is covered in plastic at this
stage of the installation process to prevent dust from damaging the printer
mechanism.
PACKING AND UNWRAPPING ARTWORKS
When two dimensional artworks are packed inside boxes and crates,
multiple layers of protective materials are used to wrap them. These may
include archival grade tissue paper, glassine paper, cell foam, tyvek and
bubble wrap. The installation crew work together to unwrap and move
larger pieces of art. They take care to support artworks from underneath to
prevent damage during handling. Fragile edges must also be handled with
care.
THE USE OF BLOCKS AS A DEVICE TO CONSERVE
ARTWORK
This framed photograph, Coming Home by artist Ricky Maynard is stacked
on two compressed foam blocks to protect it from damage prior to being
hung on the gallery wall. It is important for the curator to be able to see
how different works relate to each other in space, in order to finalise their
placement. Sometimes arrangements which look good on a plan need to be
revised in situ.
ASSEMBLING ARTWORK
Some artworks require a considerable amount of specialist knowledge to
assemble before they can go on display, and in certain cases this process
is undertaken by the artist. Canadian artists Emmanuel Madan and Thomas
McIntosh from [The User] travelled to Australia to install Quartet for dot
matrix printers for Liquid Archive. The technical process involved wiring and
then synchronising four dot matrix printers so that they ’perform’ a sound
composition captured via multiple stereo microphones, mixed by computer
equipment behind the gallery and then amplified within the gallery space.
Prior to this stage of the installation process, the wall on the left hand side of
the photograph above was constructed for this exhibit and the floor of the
gallery was lined with carpet underlay (felt) with the intention of slowing the
bounce and relay of sound within the room, enhancing the sound quality of
the artwork.
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
Tues – Fri 10am – 5pm; Sat 12 – 5pm
To book an education tour at MUMA,
please contact the Education and Audience
Development Officer Melissa Bedford
Melissa.Bedford@monash.edu
MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
VCE education resource - case study 2012
HANDLING ARTWORKS AND PREVENTATIVE
CONSERVATION WITHIN A MUSEUM
ENVIRONMENT
When working with artworks gallery technicians are required to apply
museum-standard handling procedures. Making bodily contact with
artworks can result in damage, white frames for instance can be marked
by hands which appear clean, and paper and fabric pick up the oil from
our skin. This is why gallery technicians take special care to wear gloves
when touching artworks and only handle artworks one at a time. In the three
photographs above, Laurence Aberhart’s framed photographic prints are
being positioned in the gallery. Note that the gallery technician is handling
the artworks with blue gloves which have dual functions to provide:
1.
The technician with enough grip to position artworks without them
slipping or moving; and
2.
Preventative conservation by ensuring acid and oils from the hands are
not transferred onto the fragile surfaces of the artworks
THE INSTALLATION TEAM
A casually employed installation team worked with MUMA staff, in
conjunction with a builder and specialist tradespeople throughout the
ten day installation process for Liquid Archive. This installation team was
comprised of gallery technicians who were experienced in hanging artworks,
building walls, carpentry, installation of audio-visual equipment, painting
and plastering. Gallery technicians refer to the installation schedule and
instructions from the curator about how and where to display artworks.
Gallery technicians are very often artists themselves, they become renowned
for their skills and ingenuity in handling both artworks and technical
equipment, and often work between multiple galleries and institutions in
between arranging their own exhibitions.
Below: MUMA curator Geraldine Barlow works with a gallery technician
to measure and decide upon the appropriate spaces between Laurence
Aberhart’s series of photographs. Some parts of this process are done by
eye, before being accurately measured. Sometimes larger white spaces are
left in corners or between works by different artists, not everything is regular
or as you might expect. Sight lines through the building are critical in the
placement of works, as is creating a sense of destination or surprise.
Sometimes when an artist owns their own work they may choose to handle
the artwork directly rather than using gloves. In the photographs above,
artist Patrick Pound is in the process of installing objects for his installation
entitiled The museum of air.
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
Tues – Fri 10am – 5pm; Sat 12 – 5pm
To book an education tour at MUMA,
please contact the Education and Audience
Development Officer Melissa Bedford
Melissa.Bedford@monash.edu
MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
VCE education resource - case study 2012
CONDITION REPORTS
Monitoring the condition of artworks over time is an important aspect
of managing an art collection and hosting an exhibition such as Liquid
Archive. When an artwork is loaned from an institution, artist or collector a
written form known as a condition report is prepared to identify installation
instructions as well as the condition of the artwork at the departure from the
lender.
When unpacking artworks during the installation process, gallery technicians
let the curator know immediately if they see any change in condition or
damage so that it can be examined. The curator the views the artwork ,
creates a condition report and emails the artist or their representative gallery
for advice if necessary to ascertain whether what can be seen is an intrinsic
part of the artwork or the result of damage sustained during transit.
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
A condition report encompasses a close examination of the artwork. The
curator looks at the condition of the artwork and its support. Things to look
for may include :
•
marks
•
dirt
•
cracks
•
fingerprints
•
scratches
•
bowing /cockling
•
creases
•
instability of components
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
Tues – Fri 10am – 5pm; Sat 12 – 5pm
To book an education tour at MUMA,
please contact the Education and Audience
Development Officer Melissa Bedford
Melissa.Bedford@monash.edu
MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
VCE education resource - case study 2012
PROMOTION AND MARKETING
CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION
A variety of strategies are used to promote and market the Liquid Archive
exhibition:
Lighting
•
Paid advertising in a variety of visual arts journals including Art
Almanac, Broadsheet and un Magazine and radio 3RRR to target
the local visual arts community.
•
A large scale vinyl poster at the entrance to MUMA promotes the
exhibition to students and staff at Monash University, Caulfield.
•
Sandwich boards with hand written chalk messages about Liquid
Archive are situated throughout the Faculty of Art, Design &
Architecture (FADA) at Monash University, Caulfield.
•
Promotional emails are sent internally to all Monash staff and
students.
•
An invitation to the Liquid Archive opening celebrations is printed
and distributed to participating artists, MUMA subscribers and
art industry staff from collegiate museums and galleries as well as
artists, collectors and media representatives.
•
A flyer promoting the public programs associated with the Liquid
Archive exhibition is distributed to the FADA community and MUMA
subscribers who choose to be informed about events hosted by
MUMA.
•
Social media avenues including the MUMA Facebook page and
MUMA blog entitled The Boiler Room target the online community.
•
The MUMA website highlights information about Liquid Archive
through its current exhibitions page.
•
Packages containing a Liquid Archive exhibition catalogue and
media release are distributed to writers, journalists and art critics to
encourage them to visit and write about the exhibition. Generating
publicity through published articles is very effective marketing.
•
Word of mouth from people who have already seen the exhibition
and actively encourage others to do so is also very effective
promotion.
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
•
Lighting levels within Liquid Archive the exhibition vary according to
the nature of the materials within individual artworks;
•
Conventionally all of the photographs and other fragile works on
paper within the exhibition are lit with an ambient light level of 50 –
80 lux.
•
Video projections are located in gallery spaces that have been
painted in dark shades of grey. These spaces are typically lit only
by the projected artworks.
•
The Quartet for dot matrix printers installation uses 200 lux spot
lights focused on each of the four printers for dramatic effect.
Globes
•
A variety of lighting is used throughout the muesum;
•
In the main MUMA galleries a combination of halogen floodlights
and halogen
•
spotlights are used along fitted tracks.
•
In the corridor of the gallery there is a combination of vertical
•
fluorescent tubes positioned along the columns as well as spot
lights positioned on tracks along the ceiling. The fluorescent tubes
are an architectural design feature of the gallery interior and can be
either standard globes or UV.
Systems for the control of pollution, temperature and humidity
As a collecting institution MUMA has been fitted with a museum standard
VESDA active air monitoring system. This system is part of the internal
infrastructure of the galleries and encompasses functions such as dust
filters in the air conditioning that are designed to remove pollutants. A
humidification system is attached to the main air-conditioning and heating
units which are computer controlled and calibrated to maintain the
appropriate heat and humidity levels. The temperature within the galleries
stays between 18-22 degrees and humidity at 55% plus or minus 5%.
Facilities reports are reviewed regularly by MUMA staff to ensure museum
standards are adhered to.
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
Tues – Fri 10am – 5pm; Sat 12 – 5pm
[The User], Quartet for Dot matrix printers
2004 (installation view)
Photo: John Brash