An exploration of the challenges of preserving design objects in contemporary museum practice, where objects ranging from prototypes to digital media present new problems for conservators. Aimed at collections professionals and design enthusiasts alike, the authors follow the object's lifespan from prototype to mass production, and ultimately to display or research collections. Through case studies and contributions from conservators, designers, educators, and curators, the book examines the participatory nature of conserving design, the particular demands of interactive and digital media, and the persistent problem of technological obsolescence. From coffee pots to mobile apps, the chapters reveal how objects are effectively re-designed for a new user: the museum visitor. Drawing on professional practice and scholarship from fields including anthropology, sociology, and Science and Technology studies, the contributions establish an interdisciplinary perspective on the conservation of design collections.
Notes
CONTENTS -- Introduction: defining design conservation / Sarah Barack, Kate Wight Tyler, and Jessica Walthew -- How to use this book -- 1. Prototypes: conservation and context / Sarah Barack -- Design practice for a conservator: prototypes, test-fits, and models / Kira Eng-Wilmot -- Exploring speculative prototyping in museum education / Kirsten McNally -- 2. Design icons: conserving mass produced-furniture / Sarah Barack, Kate Wight Tyler, and Jessica Walthew -- Collaborative conservation story for a kitchen restoration: cuisine atelier Le Corbusier / Roger Griffith -- Tom Dixon and the S-chair / Tim Bechthold -- 3. Participatory conservation: performance and process / Sarah Barack -- Collaboration between conservators and artists/makers: a sustainable ethos of care / Jessie French, Robn Ho, and Eleanor Vallier -- Displaying and collecting wallpaper designs at the Brooklyn Museum / Sara Bone and Kate Wight Tyler -- Participatory conservation at work: acquiring watercolor maps / Andrea Lipps -- 4. Transformative stewardship for interactive digital design / Jessica Walthew -- A conversation on 'Planetary Remastered' / Seb Chan and Kemal Enver -- Accessibility in digital conservation / Kirsten Sweeney -- eBay and me: ubiquity and digital museology / Kimon Keramidas -- 5. The afterlives of objects: obsolescence by design / Jessica Walthew -- Developing tolerance for fluorescent lamp patina in light-based artwork -- Artifacts of absence: reframing design value at the 9/11 Memorial museum / Kerith Koss Schrager -- Body out of fashion/fashion out of body / Sarah Scaturro -- Afterword / Kate Wight Tyler -- Glossary -- References
Includes bibliographical references (pages 153-168) and index.
