October 18, 2017

S02E05: Modern Materials

1 hour 7 minutes

Together with guest host Sophie Rowe we try to get to grips with modern materials: plastics of all sorts, technology, and sticky tape. Christina has a quick chat with conservator Abby Moore about plastics in particular, our agony aunt answers another listener question in Dear Jane, and Kloe reviews ‘PUR Facts: Conservation of Polyurethane Foam in Art and Design.’  

00:00:25 Our experiences of modern materials

00:03:53 The trouble of identification

00:05:26 Training courses and books about plastics

00:09:34 Destructive testing and setting stuff on fire

00:11:05 What can we learn from just looking at plastics?

00:13:56 Do we just need to do more testing and sharing?

00:15:53 The tricky question of tape – wanted or unwanted?

00:20:14 Fatbergs on display and the oddities of modern art

00:23:09 Let’s not forget about retro technology

00:25:46 Obsolete technology and do we need ’working’ tech objects?

00:27:41 Jenny’s nerdy interest in tech history and amateur restoration

00:30:33 Back to plastics: what about cleaning and treatment?

00:34:31 How does this impact how we collect modern materials long-term?

00:40:21 Kloe’s Correx horror story

00:46:13 Interview with Abby Moore

00:56:16 Dear Jane

01:00:34 Review: PUR Facts – Conservation of Polyurethane Foam in Art and Design

01:05:51 Patreon shout-out!

Show Notes:

– Come support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecword

– Sophie’s blog entry about the UCM plastics project: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/blog/2016/12/20/fantastic-plastic/

– Google Patents: https://patents.google.com/

– Conservation of Plastics by Yvonne Shashoua: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0750664959/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0750664959&linkCode=as2&tag=thecwordpodca-21&linkId=64f6c28fe0e2478c8fcae67cb5a1723f

– ‘Fatberg blocking London sewer could become museum exhibit’ via The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/sep/13/fatberg-blocking-london-sewer-could-become-museum-exhibit

– POPART: http://popart-highlights.mnhn.fr/

– Centre for Computing History: http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/

– PUR Facts by Thea van Oosten: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/9089642102/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=9089642102&linkCode=as2&tag=thecwordpodca-21&linkId=01152fb58135f81ac9079b5b0e4df43c or http://en.aup.nl/books/9789048512072-pur-facts.html

Other Resources:

– MoDiP Resource Kit for Curators and Collectors: http://www.modip.ac.uk/resources/curators-collectors

– Things Change: Conservation and Display of Time-based Media Art: http://www.tate.org.uk/about-us/projects/pericles/things-change-conservation-and-display-time-based-media-art

– Care of Plastics Webinar: https://www.connectingtocollections.org/online-event-recordings-care-of-plastics/

Jenny’s favourite online tech historians:

– TechMoan Retro Tech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdObeF9VHiA&list=PLN2yCnHTG_6qxmv_pdBxWxCPsbA1Cl2RI

– LGR Tech Tales: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB1vrRFJI1Q&list=PLbBZM9aUMsjEVZPCDMl-lXOx50rSBNFQC

Support us on Patreon!

Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Kloe Rumsey, and Christina Rozeik. Special guest host was Sophie Rowe.

Intro and outro music by DDmyzik used under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Additional sound effects and music by Calum Robertson.

Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

A Wooden Dice production, 2017.

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