To speak of “restoration” in relation to contemporary art seems almost oxymoronic. On the one hand, it is commonly assumed that the art produced in our own time is still too new to need conservation. On the other hand, with some artists deliberately seeking change or decay in their art through the use of perishable or unstable materials, the conceptual assumptions and technical practices governing conservation and restoration are being subjected to fascinating new challenges.
Mass-produced objects, bread, beans, blood, excrement (human and animal), garbage, seeds, leaves, moving gears, lights and scents are just some of the materials that a restorer of contemporary art has to deal with. These wear out, grow rusty or moldy, fade, ferment, become infested by insects, stall, dry out. Each work of contemporary art is unique and unrepeatable—and consequently so is each intervention made by a conservator.
Questions of how to conserve these kinds of artworks—and to what ends—have a critical bearing on how contemporary art is seen and understood. But the peculiarities of restoring contemporary art have received relatively little exploration or theorization outside of the technical conservation literature. Featuring interviews with curators and artists such as Roberto Cuoghi and Massimiliano Gioni, Art Work: Conserving and Restoring Contemporary Art fills this gap, inviting readers to explore how conservation practices are shaping the nature of the contemporary art object.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Art Work.'
in stock $45.00
Free Shipping
UPS GROUND IN THE CONTINENTAL U.S. FOR CONSUMER ONLINE ORDERS
NEW YORK Showroom by Appointment Only 75 Broad Street, Suite 630 New York NY 10004 Tel 212 627 1999
LOS ANGELES Showroom by Appointment Only
818 S. Broadway, Suite 700 Los Angeles, CA 90014 Tel. 323 969 8985
ARTBOOK LLC D.A.P. | Distributed Art Publishers, Inc.
All site content Copyright C 2000-2017 by Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. and the respective publishers, authors, artists. For reproduction permissions, contact the copyright holders.
The D.A.P. Catalog www.artbook.com
 
Distributed by D.A.P.
FORMAT: Pbk, 6.25 x 8.25 in. / 304 pgs / 107 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $62 GBP £40.00 ISBN: 9788831729451 PUBLISHER: Marsilio Editori AVAILABLE: 2/19/2019 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Art Work Conserving and Restoring Contemporary Art
Published by Marsilio Editori. Edited by Isabella Villafranca di Soissons.
To speak of “restoration” in relation to contemporary art seems almost oxymoronic. On the one hand, it is commonly assumed that the art produced in our own time is still too new to need conservation. On the other hand, with some artists deliberately seeking change or decay in their art through the use of perishable or unstable materials, the conceptual assumptions and technical practices governing conservation and restoration are being subjected to fascinating new challenges.
Mass-produced objects, bread, beans, blood, excrement (human and animal), garbage, seeds, leaves, moving gears, lights and scents are just some of the materials that a restorer of contemporary art has to deal with. These wear out, grow rusty or moldy, fade, ferment, become infested by insects, stall, dry out. Each work of contemporary art is unique and unrepeatable—and consequently so is each intervention made by a conservator.
Questions of how to conserve these kinds of artworks—and to what ends—have a critical bearing on how contemporary art is seen and understood. But the peculiarities of restoring contemporary art have received relatively little exploration or theorization outside of the technical conservation literature. Featuring interviews with curators and artists such as Roberto Cuoghi and Massimiliano Gioni, Art Work: Conserving and Restoring Contemporary Art fills this gap, inviting readers to explore how conservation practices are shaping the nature of the contemporary art object.