Fabrication and Disintegration
in Contemporary Art 

From wax to plastic to moss – the range of materials used in contemporary art is endless, as is the urge of artists to experiment. A material is more than just a passive working medium: it is flexible and variable; it can be shaped and conveys shape. Its properties determine how the work is made and influence its subsequent history: wax becomes brittle, plastic deteriorates, moss dries out and crumbles.

The production processes in the artist’s studio can be correspondingly complex, and in some cases highly specialised. This makes it necessary to establish reliable networks with experts, and leads to situations involving many different forms of collaboration. The ageing process of these materials also poses new challenges to restorers and art historians – the materials change and decay in ways that can be highly unpredictable. Traditional, time-tested methods cease to be effective. Familiarity with the process by which a work is made is therefore an advantage in ensuring its preservation.

These issues form the subject of a two-day symposium at Schaulager on ‘Fabrication and Disintegration in Contemporary Art’, which aims to bridge the divide between the production and conservation of contemporary works of art. Experts from the fields of conservation and art history will be conferring with artists, studio assistants and technical professionals.

The symposium is directed at international experts from the museum world and the areas of conservation and art history, but members of the general public with an interest in contemporary art are also welcome, since the symposium will shed light on processes that generally remain invisible in the presentation of art.

Image:
Robert Gober, Untitled, 1995 – 1997 [Detail], Emanuel Hoffmann-Stiftung, Depositum in der Öffentlichen Kunstsammlung Basel (permanent installiert im Schaulager Basel), © Robert Gober, Foto: Russell Kaye

Thursday, 7 September 2017, 9.30 – 17.30

Amy Baumann 

(studio manager Laura Owens Studio, Los Angeles)

 

Marcus Broecker
(conservator, Schaulager, Basel)

Raphael Hefti
(artist, Zürich and London)

Ulrich Lang
(conservator, Die Restauratoren, Frankfurt am Main)

Petra Lange-Berndt
(Professor of Art History, University of Hamburg))

Sven Mumenthaler
(technical expert, Kunstbetrieb, Münchenstein)

Dietmar Rübel
(Professor of Art History,
Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich)

Monika Wagner
(Professor emerita of Art History, University of Hamburg)

Vera Wolff
(Art historian, Chair for Science Studies, ETH Zurich)

Friday, 8 September 2017, 9.30 – 16.30

Glenn Adamson
(Senior Scholar, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven)

Dieter Mersch
(Professor of Aesthetics and Theory, Zurich University of the Arts)

Rachel Rivenc
(Associate Scientist, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles)

Christian Scheidemann
(Senior Conservator, contemporary conservation ltd, New York)

John Roberts 

(Professor of Art and Aesthetics, University of Wolverhampton)

Programme

www.schaulager.org 

Language
The proceedings will be conducted in German and English. Simultaneous interpretation will be available.

Cost
CHF 35 (students CHF 20) for the two days, including lunch and coffee breaks.

Registration

Please register at www.schaulager.org by 1 September 2017 at the latest. The number of participants is limited.

Getting here
Tram no. 11 towards Aesch, alight at ‘Schaulager’ stop. Parking is also available.

Contact

Schaulager, Laurenz-Stiftung, 

Ruchfeldstrasse 19, CH-4142 Münchenstein/Basel,
T +41 61 335 32 32

On display at Schaulager until 22 October: 

David Claerbout

Olympia (The real-time disintegration into ruins of the Berlin

Olympic stadium over the course of a thousand years)

Concept: Schaulager in collaboration with Vera Wolff and Christian Scheidemann

Speakers: Vera Wolff, Amy Baumann, Marcus Broecker, Raphael Hefti, Ulrich Lang, Petra Lange-Berndt, Sven Mumenthaler, Dietmar Rübel, Monika Wagner, Glenn Adamson, Dieter Mersch, Rachel Rivenc, Christian Scheidemann, John Roberts

Schaulager