FEATURING FIVE CONSERVATION VIDEOS

CONSERVATION TIPS & TRICKS

BY: MADELINE SMOLARZ

It can be be difficult to bring the public into back-of-house areas where conservation takes place without potentially jeopardizing the ongoing work there.

Therefore, video can be a perfect alternative to shedding light on the value of the labour involved in conservation work without exposing delicate / highly breakable / temperamental / damaged / etc. artifacts or artworks to more people than necessary.

I've selected five fantastic videos that have gone live in the last 12 months to give you a visual glimpse into the modern conservation world. All of them offer great tips and suggestions to help improve the conservation practices of other working professionals.

(1) "Conservation Laboratory" @ Arizona State Museum

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What happens when everything from a mammoth to ancient pottery passes through your doors? Find out about the extremely diverse conservation that happens at the Arizona State Museum, which also happens to be on a bustling university campus.

(2) "Conservation in Focus: Caravaggio's Crucifixion of Saint Andrew" @ The Cleveland Museum of Art

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If art conservation is more closely aligned with your interests, have a look at what the conservation of a highly prized and quite famous piece of art is taken into the care of a conservation department.

(3) "Art Conservation Behind the Scenes" @ Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

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Objects, and paintings, and textiles, oh my! The conservation staff at the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum deals with a vast array of artworks, demonstrating all of the different mediums that art exists in and the different challenges each poses.

(4) "Shipwreck Artifact Conservation" @ St Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum

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When something has been submerged under water for a period of time, what can conservators do once they're brought to the surface? Watch a team of conservators who specialize in shipwrecks at work!

(5) "Restoring Henry Moore's 'Large Two Forms'" @ The Art Gallery of Ontario

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Continuing our train of thought with things exposed to the elements, public art pieces come into contact with wind, rain, snow (depending where they are, of course), sun, and much more. In this video, a larger-than-life piece is revitalized at high speed by a team from the AGO.

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If you are a conservator, how do you feel about videotaping your work? If you aren't a conservator, what do you think about the potential for sharing museum work via video?

Please share your thoughts / responses in the comments!

EXHIBITION REVIEW: THE BRAIN SCOOP AT THE FIELD MUSEUM

BY: MEAGHAN DALBY

This week, my post is reviewing not an exhibition, but rather a YouTube channel. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across this video:

I thought the concept was so great, and everyone had such cool ideas about what a museum is (I could go on and on about that… maybe next week..) But I wanted to know more about The Brain Scoop and Emily Graslie.

According to their blog Emily Graslie is the host of the Brain Scoop, originally filmed while she was volunteering at the University of Montana Zoological Museum (UMZM). In 2013 she accepted a job at the Field Museum in Chicago as their first ever Chief Curiosity Correspondent (WHAT?! Coolest job ever? Probably. Emily… if you ever read this, do you need an assistant?!)

I think what I like about this vlog series is that it’s accessible to a range of audiences, it takes visitors behind the scenes of the Field Museum and the UMZM (watch the Spirit Collection episode below if you thought the basement of Fischer Library was bad…), answers questions posed directly from watchers, and it’s funny. Emily is obviously very knowledgeable in her field(s), but brings a great personality, which makes me want to keep watching.

The “Behind the Scenes” aspect of the museum world is gaining more and more popularity. It was only a few weeks ago that the ROM opened up it’s back of house to the general public for their 100th anniversary. Visitors like to see what’s “off limits,” and this vlog does it in a very controlled, yet entertaining way.

 

The Field Museum’s mission is to inspire “curiosity about life on Earth while exploring how the world came to be and how we make it a better place” (actually – go to their website  and check out the sweet video they made for their mission page… apparently they're really into digital media). As a result, some of the videos include some pretty explicit content about how they prepare some of the taxidermied animals on display, and other projects they undertake in their labs. If you’re not squeamish check out this video:

(had enough videos yet??)

I think by not censoring their process, and being very direct, it gives an air of authority and encourages frank discussion.  Many natural history museums have real animal specimen, all of which had to die in order to be on display. The Brain Scoop says “lets have a discussion about it. We’ll show you what we do, and how we do it. You tell us what you think.” From an educational stand-point, I think it’s great.

Lastly, I think this series gives a punch of personality to the museum world. For years, museum have been moving away from the stiff, dusty, institutions of the Victorian era. Constantly rebranding themselves as fun, energetic, immersive places of education. Personally, I think this is one of the better museum vlog series I’ve seen – but I’m sure there are tons out there! What can you recommend? Do you think this is an effective way to engage your audience?