The past few weeks in the Objects & Variable Art Laboratory, I’ve been working with a lot of staff to get Andrea Zittel’s Indianapolis Island ready for its next annual summer resident, Katherine Ball.

Nicole Peters in the process of cleaning the front deck on "Indianapolis Island."

 Zittel’s Indianapolis Island is an artwork that presents many challenges and complexities that arise when conserving contemporary outdoor artworks.  For starters, the location is tricky as it is situated in the middle of the 100 Acres Lake and is only accessible via boat.  Secondly, biological effects on the island are difficult to accurately assess from the shore’s distance.  When I say “biological effects” I mean those of a Great Blue Heron taking up its own kind of residency.

Indiana Blue Heron

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the artwork requires a human to activate it by taking up an annual summer residency, which is a fundamental principle of the artwork itself.  The combination of these factors encouraged both problem solving and some creative thinking when devising a treatment plan for this interesting contemporary work.

After our initial assessment, it was obvious that a few things needed to be addressed before Katherine moved in.  The first issue being the bird guano left behind by the Great Blue Heron.  This was indeed a two person treatment which required at least one of the two people to be exceptionally tall (cue Richard, who is rather tall).

The biological effects of the Blue Heron resident on top of the island.

So, literally on the hottest morning of the summer, Richard and I rowed out to the island to scrub and wash Indianapolis Island.  We used an Orvus WA Paste-H2O solution as our cleaning agent, nitrile-dishwashing gloves, sponges, and nylon brushes for the treatment. We performed this cleaning from the island’s deck area, as well as from the rowboat.

Objects & Variable Art Conservator, Richard McCoy, utilizing his height for the cleaning process of "Indianapolis Island."

There were two fisherman on the shore who we chatted with before heading out and I believe they may having been taking bets as to when our rowboat would capsize, dumping Richard and I into the lake during the rowboat treatment.  Luckily, this did not happen and our boat remained afloat for the duration of our island visit.

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Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Conservation

The National Headquarters for the American Legion lies deep in the heart of the Midwest, right here in Indianapolis.  Not exactly the first place I would expect to find an early 20^th century painting by the French artist, Léon Reni-Mel.  Not knowing what to expect inside the formidable, austere building, I was somewhat surprised to find a quiet office space full of friendly staff, a small museum of military artifacts, and a grand meeting hall with a desk for each state’s representatives; the latter being home to the America painting, which has hung on the wall of the main stage for the past 90 years or so.  My daily walk to our workspace includes a trip down a long hallway flanked by countless photographs of past National Commanders and officials from as early as 1919, the legion’s inaugural year.  It is a daily reminder of the deep history and singular culture that this organization and its members have lived through.

Walk to work at the American Legion National Headquarters.

Another amazing glimpse into the history of this project was through the incredible collection of letters and archival material that has been preserved since the early 1900’s.  I was privy to primary source materials written directly by Reni-Mel and various officials of the legion, including rare footage of the artist painting America in his studio in France.

Now onto the project:  The painting, America, was created in 1918 by the French Ministry of War Painter, Léon Reni-Mel, and given to the American Legion for the United States’ assistance to France during the Great World War.  The canvas is 12’ x 7’ and depicts two allegorical soldiers, one stalwart American raising his hand to halt the enemy while assisting the other, a wounded Frenchman about to collapse.  The soldiers stand on a bank of highly textured mud with smoke and flames rising around them in the distance, blending slowly into the swirling colors of the sky.  At the bottom of the canvas, Reni-Mel gave the work its own caption, AMERICA, flanked by the signatures of two honorary National Commanders, General John Pershing of the United States Army and Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the French Minister of War.  Reni-Mel’s signature and the date of completion were also added at the lower left and right.  The painting has very high impasto, giving the work incredible texture and depth, but making the cleaning process even more challenging!

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Filed under: Art, Conservation

Nicole Peters, IMA Scholar Objects & Variable Art Summer Intern, on a Boat.

Prior to starting my summer internship, when I was putting the finishing touches on my Masters in Art History at West Virginia University, I had been daydreaming about working on the 18th-century European porcelain and ancient Chinese bronzes located in the IMA’s collection.  During my first phone conversation with Richard McCoy back in April, I soon found out that my internship would not include what I had been working on at WVU, but instead I would be charged with researching, documenting, and conserving the eight site-specific contemporary installations within 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. My initial reaction was, “Well, this sounds pretty interesting…and besides, there’s probably some bronzes and marble sculptures in there somewhere, right?”

Fast-forward to today, six weeks along in my internship, and I am learning more about various formats of fiberglass, powder-coating, galvanized steel, and industrial paint systems than I ever thought I would.  But more importantly, my internship here has been encouraging me to fully consider and understand contemporary art materials, contemporary installation processes, and the importance of site maintenance and regular inspection.  As I engulf myself in this project, I am becoming familiar with various conservation terminology and procedures, and the instruments involved in the technical study of artworks.

One of my current projects at 100 Acres involves recording and monitoring the level of color and gloss on Jeppe Hein’s Bench Around the Lake, Los Carpinteros’ Free Basket steel arches, and Atelier Van Lieshout’s fiberglass installation, Funky Bones.

Nicole Peters Making Colorimetric Measurements on “Funky Bones.”

With the help of two useful instruments, the Micro-TRI-gloss Glossmeter and the Spectrophotometer CM- 700d/600d, and one very knowledgeable conservation scientist at the IMA, Greg D. Smith, we have been able to begin detailed research projects on important IMA artworks. Using these instruments requires both manual and technical competency, but more importantly, the information recorded must be understood and interpreted in a way that it is not only accessible to conservators, but also curators, registrars, and even the artists themselves. Thus far, color and gloss measurements have been recorded for the steel and plastic components of Free Basket and the black and white fiberglass sections of Funky Bones. Measurements for the fifteen individual bench installations for Bench Around the Lake are currently in progress.

The colorimeter instrument is able to digitally plot a precise numerical coordinate that corresponds with an exact color located on the CIE L*a*b* color charting system.  When colors are digitized, it becomes possible to express minute differences in what is essentially the same color.  These are called color differentials (i.e. Δ L*, Δ a*, and Δ b*). The CIE L*a*b* system evaluates hue (color), value (lightness or darkness), and chroma (saturation).

Plot of Red and Blue Paint Used on “Free Basket.”

For example, the color for the red and blue arches of Free Basket was measured and plotted in the above image.  This measurement is to be taken annually and the sample location should be taken in the same area each time.

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Filed under: Art, Art and Nature Park, Conservation, IMA Staff

Why would one have to know about insects and mice when learning about the ins and outs of the museum world?  Just like at home, any building will have some level of pest activity – it’s just a matter of controlling it. This is particularly important in museums where protecting the collection is a top priority.

Oldfields, like any other historic house, poses an interesting dilemma in pest control because the property was not originally created to protect and preserve an important museum collection from the elements.  Because of this, the museum must remain diligent in pest management at Oldfields.  Luckily for the IMA (and any museum!), there is an entire field called Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, that provides resources and systematic methods for controlling pests.  As part of the museum’s overall IPM program, Pat Kelley of Insects Limited Inc. makes monthly visits to each of the museum’s buildings, including Oldfields.  Check out this blast-from-the-past blog post to learn about the types of resources Insects Limited provides for museums locally and globally.  I’ve now had the opportunity to accompany Pat on multiple visits to Oldfields.

On these trips we clean up areas where insects tend to gather and check traps for any activity. After years of these visits, obvious patterns in pest activity have begun to emerge.

During the more active months of January and February a pile of ladybird beetles is not an uncommon sight, particularly in sunny window wells.

The quantities of pests found in Oldfields are not surprising and have remained under control, thanks to these preventative measures.  Ladybird beetles (known colloquially as lady bugs, but don’t call them that if you want to stay friends with an entomologist or a conservator) are by far the most prevalent pest at Oldfields. They tend to gather in and around windows, primarily in the southernmost rooms of the house.  The typical pattern of insect activity begins in late October or early November when insects enter through cracks and gaps around doors, windows, and the roof line. The insects fill wall voids and attic spaces where they hibernate over the winter.  They then emerge in the first warm days of January and February in an attempt to return outdoors. When they find themselves inside the home instead of outside they accumulate near the windows and die. These insects are predominately ladybird beetles, but also include some boxelder beetles, pine seed bugs, and cluster flies.  Ladybird beetles themselves do not pose a major threat to the house or objects.

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Filed under: Conservation

If you’re a resident of Indianapolis or Columbus, it’s probably no secret that Charles Osgood and the crew of CBS Sunday Morning have spent the week looking at architecture and art in Columbus.  There’s been a lot of newspaper and television coverage of their work.

I’m looking forward to seeing the show, which airs this Sunday morning at 9:00 am.

Charles Osgood Getting Ready in the Dining Room.

As an art conservator, I was assigned to help the crew film at the recently-opened Miller House and Garden.  This work was a team effort and many from the IMA were involved in helping the CBS folks get what they needed for the show.

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Filed under: Conservation, Miller House