AIC's 43rd Annual Meeting

It has become globally recognized that artist interviews are an essential component in the conservation of modern and contemporary artworks. Artists continue to push boundaries by exploring unconventional materials and fabrication techniques. Further complications have arisen with the advent of installation and conceptual art. Communication with the artist is often necessary to elucidate not just how a work was made, but also which components or qualities are central to its meaning, thus requiring preservation. In 2012, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden was awarded a Smithsonian Postgraduate Fellowship in Conservation for Steven O'Banion to develop an artist interview program for the institution. While primarily driven from a preservation perspective, the Artist Interview Program is a museum-wide initiative with the goal of generating systematic face-to-face dialogues with artists. This talk will explain the motivations behind the creation of the interview program, the challenges that arose during its development, and the future of the program as it becomes integrated into the daily workflows of the conservation lab and the museum as a whole. As a practical example of the ways in which artist interviews can play into treatment choices, the conservation of an installation by Ann Hamilton will be discussed. A two-year collaborative project, this case study illustrates the evolution of the artist's ideas as key conceptual components of the artwork came into focus. Ann Hamilton's input guided conservators through a decision-making process that resulted in treatment solutions that would not otherwise have been considered. The relationship built with the artist over time will allow for a continued dialog about the artwork in the future.