As a conservator working with each of these artists, the sometimes conflicting working methods and points of perspective were a challenge to manage while remaining flexible.  Conservators work within a set of principles, such as light is damaging too many artworks, handling should be kept to a minimum, and the interior environment can often be hazardous to the preservation of artifacts.  Conservators need to have great hand skills, have an attention to detail, be creative problem solvers, and above all else, respect the object.  Artists work within another set of principles.  Everything is significant, details matter, experience must be illuminated, and all objects and materials can be put towards this purpose.  Creativity is grand and ever changing and needs continuous feeding.

Do you see how there could be some conflict here?

Many of the period rooms were installed in the 1950’s and 60’s when museum best practices were much less formulated than they are today.  The condition of the objects having been on continuous display since that time are often fragile and unknown as museum condition records were not what they are today.  The first step in preparing for the installation was to get an overall plan from each artist as to what their intervention into the rooms would be.   What did I say about creativity being grand and ever changing?  The Curators did their best to wrangle broad concepts from the artists, and the Registrars compiled lists of the items coming and did their best to make sure that everything arrived safely and was accounted for.

Mary Lucier works with her team to film in the Dining Room of the Nicholas Schenck House.

The installation worked a bit differently for each artist.  Mary Lucier with a video component needed access to the Schenck rooms well in advance of the other artists.  The challenge was to prepare the rooms, and safeguard the collection while having actors, props, and the artist filming within the often cramped and tightly installed space.   The plan of what to film was fluid and responsive to events as they happened.  This meant that the conservator working with the artist needed to also be fluid and responsive to allow space for creativity while setting appropriate limits and boundaries.

Betty Woodman works with art handlers to install her ceramics in the Hall of the Cupola House.

Betty Woodman and Ann Chu proved challenging in that it was impossible to know which collection objects would work well with the artist’s objects until the artist arrived and began to arrange in each room; Cane Acres, Rockefeller, Russell, Cupola, Worgelt, and two dioramas.  The difficulty was assessing on the spot whether a collection object could safely interact with the artist’s object.  Is that vase too heavy for this piece of furniture?  Is the ceramic cup stable on the period table?

Anne Chu works with art handlers to install her work in the Moorish Room of the John D. Rockefeller House.

Ann Agee’s was the most labor intensive installation.  The artist made several pre-visits to the Milligan rooms as part of formulating what she wanted to transform the room into.  Discussions about what was and was not impossible to remove from the room were fruitful.  The compromises fed the creative process.  With this installation, Ann much like a conservator had to be a creative problem solver too.

Ann Agee works with art handlers to install her work in the Library and Drawing Room of the Milligan House.

I think the experience in the end was fruitful for all and that the activations spark new illuminations on your experience.

Map of damage reports from the New York Times.

What is a Disaster Plan? It is a written document outlining the procedures and policies that staff will follow in the event of various emergencies and disasters. The American Association of Museums requires that museums have this written document as part of becoming an accredited institution.

The museum does have such a document and in response to this quake professional staff—all conservators, registrars, collections manager, and the curators of each department—followed our disaster plan and performed a systematic check of objects in storage and on display. We are happy to report that we have nothing to report and no mishaps occurred.

For more information on disaster preparation as it relates to art collections go to the American Institute for Conservation and Heritage Preservation. Having a disaster plan is not only for Museums. NYC is encouraging all residents to have their own personal disaster plans. For more information about making your plan Ready NY go to their website.

As you may remember from an earlier post, Dr. Fischetti and a colleague came out to the Conservation Lab to look at a group of x-rays of animal mummies. It was at that time that we discussed the possibility of CT scanning the animal mummies. While x-radiographs are very useful for showing the interior of the mummy bundles, they will not give a three dimensional image that can be manipulated. With CT scans it is often possible to discern what might be inside the animal as opposed to lying within the linen wrapping of the mummy bundle. X-radiographs of the animals will aid in the CT scanning as it will give a kind of road map and some indication of areas we would like to focus on in the scanning process. Colleagues at other institutions have used CT scanning for animal mummies; the Phoebe Hearst Museum, part of UC Berkley recently scanned their adult crocodile and found a fishing hook inside!

Animal mummies in the Conservation Lab getting ready for transport to Animal Medical Center for CT Scanning.

While we don’t have that large of a crocodile, we will be taking several cats, birds, baby crocodiles, mice, and unknowns to the AMC to see what we can see. There we will have access to experts who can help identify the animals, and their possible cause of death. As Dr. Fischetti is partial to cats, we have also consulted with Dr. Andrew Major who got his veterinary medicine degree at the University of Pennsylvania and works as the emergency vet for The Raptor Trust. Since his work with raptors and other birds of prey for The Raptor Trust involves treating broken bones he has a lot of experience looking at bones in x-rays. One of the most common birds used in ancient Egyptian mummies is an ibis but hawks and other birds were also used.

This project studying the animal mummies in Brooklyn’s collection will eventually culminate into an exhibition currently scheduled for 2013.

Blackfeet Tipi during final moments of installation.

So, this brings us back to the question: How do we set up a tipi, safely, and indoors?  To paraphrase a quote by Filippo Gentile the Museum’s supervisor in-charge of the art handlers during installations, who would bear the brunt of making this installation happen – We are city people.  What do we know of the country?  Through a team effort involving Katie Welty the Registrar in charge of the exhibition, objects conservators, and art handlers, we managed to work out the details, consulting historic texts such as Indians of the Plains by Robert Lowie, and The Indian Tipi: Its History, Construction, and Use by Reginald and Gladys Laubin, as well as getting instructions from Ken Woody and Lyle Heavy Runner.

Blackfoot tipis have 4 foundation poles.

Tipis may look the same to you or me, but they are very different depending on which tribe made them.  The most significant difference has to do with the number of tripod poles used to form the main structural support for the covering.  I came to realize this in a phone conversation with Lyle Heavy Runner before he made an initial trip from Montana out to Brooklyn to do a test installation with us.  Lyle kept referring to the four poles of the tripod, and I kept thinking, but doesn’t a tripod indicate three?  Blackfoot and Crow tipis have 4 foundation poles, while the Sioux and Cheyenne use three foundation poles.

Test installation in October 2010.

Lyle’s visit for the test set up in October, 2010 was enlightening and frightening at the same time.  Lyle had never set up a tipi indoors and we had never set up a tipi!  At 28 feet tall, this was certainly a challenging one to start with.

After turning off the smoke detectors, Lyle smudged the tipi and us as a blessing before we started.  In turns out we really needed it.  After an intensive 2 days of work, the foundation poles broke and the tipi came crashing down onto the marble floor.   No one was hurt.  The blessing had worked.  Lyle went home, leaving us with an introduction and the confidence in us that we could make this work.

New, thicker poles made from Lodgepole Pine were obtained from Montana and we set anew to learn how to erect a tipi.  Knowing that the marble floor of the 5^th floor Rotunda was working against us, the museum’s carpenters headed by Greg Battersby worked diligently to provide us a platform into which chock blocks could be attached to secure the poles.

A full week was set aside to work out the details of setting up three pole and four pole tipis.  Lyle noted during his visit that the thought process of building was very different between native and non-native peoples.  His thought process as a Blackfoot was to think of the whole first and then break it apart, whereas ours was very clearly building from the ground up, piece by piece to get a whole.  Using the historic directions from the literature, and our experience with Lyle as a starting place, we set about coming up with directions for each tipi so that we could do this without a hitch when the installation started.

Everyone pooled together; Filippo looking at what the Eagle Scouts had written on erecting tipi’s, and refreshing his knowledge of basic geometry, and Assistant Objects Conservator Jakki Godfrey and Katie poured over a small model made from chopsticks to make sure the written directions were accurate.  The week was intense.  Looking up a 28 foot pole, one tends to experience vertigo, which is especially problematic when the pole weighs nearly 75 pounds!  There were many intense discussions that week – “Which pole does this one go on top of?  What do you mean by ‘on top’? Which “V”?  There are at least six “V” shapes at the top of the poles! – but with the North, South, East and West quadrants marked out on the four walls of the gallery with blue tape, we managed to do it.

Armed with templates, and fully labeled poles – NW, SW, NW, NE foundation poles, support poles 1-14, ear flap or smoke flap poles, and chock blocks – we managed to put up Lyle Heavy Runner’s Blackfoot Welcome Tipi.  It may not have been as a member of the Blackfoot nation would have done it, but it was all Brooklyn!

I hope you enjoy the experience of being inside when you come see the exhibition.

Chryssa's Cents Sign Traveling From Broadway to Africa via Guadeloupe on view in Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958–1968, October 15, 2010 through January 9, 2011 (Image: DIG_E2010_Seductive_Subversion_04_PS4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010)

In January of 2005 we contacted David Ablon at Tecnolux a neon specialist who has worked with many artists who work in neon, including Chryssa herself.  It was at that point we determined that the neon was in great working order.  The outer box on the other hand was a problem.  Before considering undertaking an extensive conservation treatment on a work of art by a living artist, it is necessary to consult the artist on possible treatment plans so that the conserved work will remain true to the artist’s intentions.  Chryssa was born in 1933 and luckily for us was alive in 2005.  Through a very circuitous route, (a Greek man in my Spanish class), we managed to find her contact information in NYC.  We gained permission to have the outer box re-made so that the artwork could be exhibitable.

Photo shows the missing sides of the original box. Chryssa (American, born Greece, 1933). Cents Sign Travelling from Broadway to Africa via Guadeloupe, 1968. Neon tubing and plexiglass, 43 x 35 x 28 1/2 in. (109.2 x 88.9 x 72.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Sidney Singer, 85.290. © artist or artist's estate

When Catherine Morris Curator for the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art put the Chryssa on the Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958–1968 checklist, the project was a go!  Grewe Plastics, Inc. was contracted to remake the neon box.  They have worked with conservators from MOMA, and other artists in fabricating and re-fabricating precise plastic elements.  The very difficult part in undertaking this conservation treatment was coordinating and communicating the work and the needs of the two specialists—the neon fabricator and the plastics fabricators—to ensure that the neon would fit inside the new box.

I first worked with David to disassemble the neon from the damaged box.  A nerve racking process as Chryssa’s three dimensional neon tubes are extremely fragile.  David can be heard in this video describing the colors of the neon before we begin the disassembly process.  The difficult part for the plastics fabricators is that they had the original box, but had to replicate all of the holes, and transfer the internal shelves with extreme precision so that the neon tubes could be reinstalled inside the new box.  Although there was a few moments of nail biting, both specialists were excellent and the end result is a completely transformed, exhibitable work of art.

Unfortunately for the objects conservators, not to mention the zinc lion, pigeons found the sculpture to be a very comfortable apartment in a very desirable location.  The amount of bird guano inside the sculpture was both astounding and disgusting.  Guano is both acidic and rich in nitrates, which can be corrosive to the metal of the sculpture and needed to be removed from the interior.  This only proves that the job of an art conservator is not always glamorous.

This week, both sculptures were rigged back onto the roof now that the needed roof repairs had been completed.  Mariano Brothers a specialized rigging firm, returned to reinstall the sculptures.  But what were we to do about the pigeons?

To this end, we contacted Birdmaster, a firm that specializes in installing protective netting and screening that prevents birds from setting up house on buildings and sculpture.  After the riggers installed the sculptures, not taking any chances with those pigeons, we wrapped the lion in plastic, a la Christo, to await the arrival of the crew from Birdmaster.

Pigeons need a 3″ hole in order to set up a nest and two flew immediately over to sit on the head as soon as we removed the plastic, but William Barretto and Brian Dwyer expertly cut and secured with stainless steel wire, resin coated stainless steel mesh and stainless steel spikes to block the access. The birds will be disappointed at the loss of their home, but it’s a happy day for the lion.

Those of you who are 1stfans got an introduction to the animal mummy research project being done at the Museum when we held an informal presentation about the project to look at some x-radiographs and see some animal mummies up close and personal.

In the months that have followed this presentation, the conservation lab has continued to examine and x-ray the collection which consists of about 60 animals in all.  We have enlisted the help of a radiologist at The Animal Medical Center Dr. Anthony Fischetti, DVM, MS.  Recently Anthony and a colleague came to the museum specifically to look at the x-radiographs of our cat mummies.

The wrappings and coffins, when present, represent a huge range of styles and levels of complexity.  The collection consists of a young cat wrapped with simple pieces of linen to larger cats with very complex patterning of dyed linens cut into fine strips.  The coffins themselves can be simple stone boxes with polychrome designs, to wooden forms in the shape of seated cats with sometimes elaborate polychrome and gilt decoration.

In examining the radiographs, the veterinarians were able to confirm that the animals in the x-rays were in fact cats, and were able to give us information regarding possible age.  Depending on the size and shape of the skull and teeth, they were sometimes able to suggest whether the mummified cat was more likely a species of domesticated cat (Felis silvestris) or a wild species (Felis chaus).

As more institutions begin to study their collections of ancient animal mummies, there seems to only be more questions as to what these differences in mummification styles and animal species might actually mean.  The Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis is heading a feline genome project.

The project is looking into what ancient DNA can tell us about current domestic cat populations.  Due to the condition of two of Brooklyn’s cat mummies, long bones were able to be sent to Dr. Leslie Lyons for inclusion in the genome project.

Due to the numerous components—61 fabric flowers alone—and complexity of how the components interrelate, the artist came in to assist with the initial installation of this object. The object is on view in a specially selected room within 21: Selections of Contemporary Art from the Brooklyn Museum on the 4th floor.

The install took a day and a half, but the cataloging and accession numbering of all the components took several weeks. When objects are acquired by the Museum for the permanent collection, a baseline condition report and cataloging of the parts are made. This follows the current standard of best practices, establishing a record which will aid the museum in preservation and proper interpretation of the art work in years to come. Besides the bed, the viewer will note two other major elements in the room; a sex swing and a working chandelier made from tampons. The effect is one of a riotous explosion which seems a little off kilter. In speaking with the artist as she set up the installation, she wants the whole feeling of the piece to be decadent but a little tired; kind of like a melting wedding cake.

Mummy of the “Lady” Hor Encased in Cartonnage. Linen, painted and gessoed. Circa 712-664 B.C.E. Third Intermediate Period. Second half of XXV Dynasty. 69 3/4 x 18 1/16 in. Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund. 37.50E

How would you pack and transport a mummy safely?  At the Brooklyn Museum, we have as a part of the Registrar’s Department, one fine arts packer, Paul Speh.   Art objects, especially Egyptian mummies, are not easy objects to pack.  Working with the Registrars and Conservators, he came up with ingenious designs to safely hold and support the mummies for their trip to the hospital.  We used a variety of polyethylene foam products to absorb shock, and vibration.

Mummy Pasebakhaemipet. Thebes, Egypt. ca. 1070-945 B.C.E. XXI Dynasty. Third Intermediate Period. 76 3/8 x 21 5/8 in. (194 x 55 cm). 08.480.2a-c

Additionally, for two of the most fragile mummies, we used radiation bags designed for use with patients undergoing types of radiation treatments.  These bags are malleable and filled with polystyrene beads (much like a bean bag chair).  They were manipulated under the mummies to fully conform and support their irregular shapes.  The air is then drawn out with a vacuum to make a custom fitted full support.

The mummies, once properly packed for their journey, were transported using a fine arts transportation company.  We used Marshall Fine Arts.  Fine art shippers will have specially designed trucks that are climate controlled and have a specially designed suspension system to absorb vibration called air ride. Paul placed on each travel container, the hieroglyph of Wadjet—the eye of Horus—so that the mummies could be able to see where they were going.

Paul Speh measures the CT scanner with Dr. Jessie Chusid.

When we arrived at the hospital, before the truck was even opened to move the mummies inside, Paul surveyed the route, and ensured that all was in order, down to the inch.

The day proved exhausting for all of us (except maybe the mummies), but a wealth of information was obtained, not only about the individuals themselves, but about the ancient Egyptian techniques of mummification. All the staff at North Shore University Hospital were very accommodating and helpful, especially the doctors and radiologists who worked directly with us—Drs. Amgad Makaryus, Jesse Chusid, and Karen Lisk.  We are excited about working with them to absorb and process the information.

Look for future postings on what we find out about each mummy.