Tales from a Shipping Container (aka. The Hot and the Humid)

So I've probably sat down at least 6 times in the last 4 days to finally finish writing this post - it seems that my ambition to post more often has been firmly quashed by reality (and the need to finish my thesis for submission by Friday), and a truly capricious internet connection -- especially at the lab.  Oh, and some truly momentous thunderstorms of electrical proportions that not only had me unplugging my computer and all other electronic devices, but moving furniture away from said outlets -- you know, just in case.

Nonetheless, here it is - at long last - and truly representing tales from a shipping container as I have now spent five consecutive in said shipping container - and let me tell you - it's freaking hot in there!!  Though admittedly, as the days progress, people have progressively felt more and more sorry for me, and I have since gained
a) a fan
b) a portable air conditioning unit

Neither of these things does much more than drop the temperature by more than a few degrees - but at a certain point, the difference between 38C and 34C is greatly appreciated.  If I'm lucky, maybe someone'll bring me a bucket of ice water to soak my feet in tomorrow =)  .

The view from my shipping container - watching the rain fall in the afternoon as I work on the 'Acte d'Independance'

View towards the back of the container where I worked with Haitian conservation assistant Junior Norelus on a bronze/brass bust of one of the founding fathers of Haiti.

But enough about my hot and humid working conditions -- especially since the staff have been working so hard to make it the least miserable possible for me - in addition to checking on me every hour or so to be sure I haven't expired in a heat induced stupor - onto the the actual projects!

Aside from the materials in the shipping container (which I will talk about more in detail below) - I have a number projects that I have been or will be working on during my month long stay here.  These include:

-a number of sheet metal sculptures (cold hammered and cut steel from steel drums) from the 'Centre d'Art'; treatment includes removal of corrosion products, local corrosion inhibition treatment and consolidation of flaking metallic paint.

Detail of flaky metallic paint after consolidation

Overall view of one of the 'fer decoupee' objects

-a rehousing/cleaning project at the Lehman Gallery.  This townhouse is owned by a Swedish woman (81 years old) who has been collecting Vodoo objects for decades.

A small part of the Lehman Collection showing years of accumulated dust

Another small piece of the Lehman Collection.

-a number of objects for ISPAN (l'Institut de Sauvegarde de Patrimoine National/The Institute for the Safekeeping of the National Patrimony) - these are the objects being housed in the the shipping container and have been my project for the last week.  They include a badly damaged plaster bust, a bronze/brass bust, the Acte d'Independance (Declaration of Independence) and a number of stone reliefs on marble.  By large and far, treatment includes cleaning and consolidation, with some reassembly on the plaster bust.

Back view of the copper alloy bust during cleaning (the white of the bottom most part is particulate matter from the collapse of the building it was housed in during the earthquake

Now -- all of my pre-program training was conducted in a field lab, either in Crete, or on the mainland in Greece, with the former being far cushier than the latter, but neither coming anywhere close to the working conditions of a museum laboratory.  The reason I say this here is to point out that working in difficult/less than ideal conditions is not new to me - not even a little bit.  I'm quite accustomed to working with hydrochloric acid without the benefit of truly acid-proof gloves or a respirator ("just sit upwind, you'll be fine!! And when those gloves get gummy, here's the box, just change 'em before it breaks through!") - or needing to use a cellulose nitrate adhesive (which ages terribly) rather than the preferred Paraloid B-72 (which tends to lose its cohesion above 40C).  But in all those instances, I've worked with a very limited array of objects - namely, ceramics and occasionally stone or metal.

Here, I run the range from iron to bronze, from plaster to papier mache, and even large scale marble.  There's no such thing as acid-free blue board out here - and Volara is worth more than gold.  Paraloid is useless on the ISPAN objects as they will be stored indefinitely in the shipping container (without the benefit of my air conditioning unit), and a single microscope is being shared by all conservators in all labs and can occasionally have a longer wait list than a kidney transplant.

Have I mentioned that I am also nearly completely unsupervised?  The head of conservation needed to return home yesterday and won't be back until after I've left (bless her, we will be in near constant contact via email and have discussed every project in detail prior to her departure).

So what have I learned since my arrival?

I've learned that there's a difference between what you think you know and what you actually know.  I've learned that if you've been taught how to think, and where to look, it doesn't matter what they throw at you.  I've learned that everything I need to know about conservation, that I really need to know -- I have been taught - by my professors (Ellen, David, Ioanna and VANESSA!!), by my pre-program and internship supervisors (Robert and Stephie) and by the people around me - who might not be conservators, but who know how to use their heads to think through a problem.

I might not know the ideal surfactant for the cleaning of outdoor plaster - but I do know how to do spot tests and cleaning tests until I find something that does work.  I might not know the best consolidant to use once my precious B-72 has been eliminated - but I know where to look to narrow down my list of alternatives.

In short - I definitely don't know every nuance of every object - but the point is, you don't need to.  Everything I needed to learn in order to figure it out as I go along, I have learned.  I know that there are people I can ask and resources I can turn to - and when those fail or are absent - I know that I can experiment until I find a suitable solution.

I also know that every time another bizarre/foreign/unknown object shows up on my desk, or I find out that I can't use either B-72 as an adhesive or acetone as a solvent, I'm still gonna freak out a little - some of it on the inside, some of it on the outside - but once the panic subsides and I'm no longer breathing rapidly in and out of a paper bag - I'll figure it out, one way or another.

If not for the challenges, what would be the fun?