November 13, 2019

S06E05: Thinking Big

1 hour 16 minutes

We don some hard hats and crane our necks as we talk large objects with special guest host Simon Stephens: from machinery and figureheads to tanks and planes. What are some of the unique challenges associated with really big stuff? Also tune in for a special tour of the Science Museum store at Wroughton, a Dear Jane about what to see in Florence, and a review of ’The Conservation of Sculpture Parks.’

00:00:48 What counts as ’big stuff’ exactly?

00:06:01 Taking stuff apart, hazards, and other considerations

00:16:30 Swapping the B72 for epoxy

00:18:42 Displaying and moving oversize museum collections

00:33:09 Behind the scenes tour with Simon and Kloe

00:57:33 Guidance and resources

00:59:09 Monuments, sites, and buildings

01:01:04 Review: ’The Conservation of Sculpture Parks’

01:06:07 Dear Jane

01:12:14 Comments, questions and corrections: two announcements and a correction

Show Notes:

– Science Museum Group: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/

– Imperial War Museums: https://www.iwm.org.uk

– National Museum of Flight: https://www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-flight/

– Make It Float event: http://www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/events/event/east-anglian-conservators-forum-event-make-it-float/

– Figureheads mentioned in Icon News originally: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/14/restored-19th-century-ships-figureheads-to-go-on-display-in-plymouth

– Martinspeed: https://www.martinspeed.com/

– Whale skeleton at Tullie House Museum: http://www.natural-history-conservation.com/CarlisleFinWhaleSkeleton.htm

– Dippy on Tour: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/dippy-on-tour.html

– Cars Europe: https://www.carseurope.net/

– Science Museum at Wroughton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Museum_at_Wroughton

– Crofton Beam Engines: https://www.croftonbeamengines.org/

– Big Stuff conference: https://bigstuff.omeka.net/

– Museums & Galleries Commission ‘Standards in the Museum Care of Larger & Working Objects’ from 1994: https://www.swfed.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Stds_for_larger_objects000075_1.pdf

– ABTEM’s Guidelines for the Care of Larger & Working Historic Objects: https://abtemguidelinesorg.wordpress.com/

– ’Corsair KD431: Preserving the Time Capsule Fighter Revisited’ by David Morris: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-KD431-Preserving-Capsule-Revisited/dp/0750990414

– The Hill House: https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/the-hill-house

– The Conservation of Sculpture Parks: https://archetype.co.uk/our-titles/the-conservation-of-sculpture-parks/?id=262

– Icon Book & Paper Group’s Frederick Bearman Research Grant: https://icon.org.uk/groups/book-paper/fred-bearman-research-grant

– Help get the CAC Reconciliation Working Group off the ground: https://www.gofundme.com/f/art-conservators-for-truth-and-reconciliation

Additional Resources from Simon:

– Andrew, Patricia’ Ball, Stephen, and Winsor, Peter (2009) Larger & Working Objects: A Guide to Standards in their Preservation and Care (London: Collections Trust). Available from collectionstrust.org.uk

– Ball, Stephen and Winsor, Peter ed. (1997) Larger & Working Objects: A guide to their preservation and care (London: Museums and Galleries Commission). Available from collectionstrust.org.uk

– British Aviation Preservation Council. Stopping the Rot. Conference Proceedings on the Conservation of Aviation Collections. Available from bapc.org.uk

– Dollery, Diane and Henderson, Jane, eds. (1999) Industrial collections: care and conservation. [Industrial Collections: Care and Conservation]. Cardiff: Council of Museums in Wales and United Kingdom Institute for Conservation. Available from orca.cf.ac.uk

– Mitchell, J. S. (2014) Collection, Curatorship and Conservation of Large Objects, STICK, Industrial Museums Scotland. Available from stickssn.org

– Meehan, Peter (2001) Management of Large Objects at the Science Museum, Wroughton (V&A Conservation Journal Spring 2001 Issue 37). Available from vam.ac.uk

– Mikesh, R. C. (1990) Preserving unsheltered exhibit aircraft. Transport Museums: Yearbook of the International Association of Transport Museums, p. 45

– Prytulak, George (1991) The Treatment of Rusted Machinery in Preparation for Surface Coating. J.IIC-CG VOLUME 16. Available from cac-accr.ca

Jane’s Florentine Links (with special thanks to Fiona Macalister and Barbara Cattaneo)

– Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze: https://www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/

– The Cimabue Crucifix: https://florenceinwarandflood.wordpress.com/works-in-exhibition-the-flood/crucifix-cimabue/

– Florence Flood Video: http://www.florence-flood.com/audio-video/

– Italy and the History of Preventive Conservation’ by Simon Lambert: https://journals.openedition.org/ceroart/1707

– The Florence Flood and the Emergence of Library Conservation: http://blog.nyhistory.org/lab-notes-the-florence-flood-and-the-emergence-of-library-conservation/

– The Genesis of Modern Conservation: https://icon.org.uk/news/the-genesis-of-modern-conservation-the-florence-flood-revisited

– Opificio delle Pietre Dure: https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/opificio-delle-pietre-dure.html

– 1968 documentary ’The Restoration of Books’ from Florence: https://youtu.be/Ip6698z_QmY

– Gabinetto Vieusseux: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabinetto_Vieusseux

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Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Kloe Rumsey, and Simon Stephens.

Intro and outro music by DDmyzik used under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

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

A Wooden Dice production, 2019.

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