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Erika,
Ah! My concerns would be about the same as yours: potential for
pests (new and existing even with past treatment), dust, and additionally
people. I don't know how much the charcoal would be of interest to pests but
the unburnt/partially burnt items may. The image shows well burned items but
there may be some parts that still have enough to be of interest to pests. The
silk is the same concern as if you had silk items in your collection in my
opinion, monitor and be careful. This would honestly be my least concern for
this piece. The dust from the charcoal would worry me. Disaster response
literature or those that have participated in a response effort for a fire will
note how charcoal dust and soot gets EVERYWHERE. As it is so fine it can get
ingrained into just about anything very easily. Granted this will be much more
controlled than the dust/soot from a fire but I feel it would travel easily.
That leads to my last point of people. People will touch the charcoal. I want
to say especially children but as I'm sure everyone has seen adults are just as
bad. After they touch the charcoal they will do their best effort to touch
everything within reach, especially if its collection items. This would be my
biggest concern.
Would it be possible to have the charcoal and burnt silk in a
Plexiglas box? Off the top of my head, a base of Plexiglas, the artist or staff
arrange the charcoal and burnt silk on the base and then a Plexiglas lid is
placed over top, possibly within a shallow recess so the lid can't easily slide
off? While this isn't impenetrable it would certainly drastically reduce any
concerns and would minimally affect the aesthetic of the piece.
Good luck!
William Shepherd
Collections Officer
Swift Current Museum
44 Robert Street West
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
S9H 4M9
Phone: 306-778-4815
Fax: 306-778-4818
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Wingfield, Erika
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2017 3:40 PM
To: '[email protected]' <[email protected]>
Subject: [pestlist] "Forest Debris" and Possible Pests
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Hello once again!
No beetle questions this time! An artist has proposed an installation that is
going to include "forest fire debris" (please see attached image). The artist
has described said "debris" as such:
"...the 'debris' is more or less charcoal and silk, piled in a line about 6"
high directly beneath the photo. It is the charcoal remains of the forest that
appears in the photo, so it is essential to the concept of the piece. Some of
the charcoal retains the shape of pine needles, cones, bark, branches or wood.
It is fragile and can be crushed by hand. The brown bits you see in the picture
are charred pieces of silk from the bottom edge of the photo. There are no
leaves or wood chips.
The charcoal bits have been re-burned and subjected to multiple freeze-thaw
cycles. The material was screened after cooling down to remove ash and fine
dust. The reality is that both the charcoal and silk are very fragile and can
be pulverized in handling as well as shipping which can result in dust."
Obviously there are many concerns about this installation. The artist claims to
have done freeze-thaw cycles but how much would this actually help in regards
to keeping pests away. Certainly it could rid the "debris" of any bugs that
might be in there at present...but what about prevention? We have a prohibited
items list that we use for flower arrangements and pine cones, bark, branches
and wood (unless it has been treated) are prohibited. But I am not so sure
about these items after they have been burned. This work has mainly been in
galleries in the past...and I think this is the first time it is coming into a
museum so I don't have any institutions that I can contact to see what they had
did during install and the duration of the exhibition. I am hoping that we
could make this work, but no matter how I look at it this install seems like it
can't happen.
Does anyone have any experience with dealing with piles of charcoal? Are there
any pests that would be attracted to this material, would they be the same
types that are attracted to wood and plant matter even though this material has
been burned down to charcoal? Obviously the dust is also a concern because of
our HVAC system...but that is a whole separate issue. I am trying to arm myself
with information so that if/when I have to go to the curator to tell him it is
a no go I will have documentation and perhaps even examples.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Erika
Erika Wingfield
Assistant Registrar
Direct: 602.307.2030
Email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Phoenix Art Museum
1625 N. Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85004
phxart.org<http://www.phxart.org/>
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