Part 2. Case Studies

Chris Burden’s Metropolis II is an elaborate kinetic sculpture modeled after a frenetic modern city. Steel tubing forms a grid interwoven with an elaborate system of roadways and train tracks with miniature cars speeding through the sculpture’s dense network of buildings. This paper discusses the maintenance and operation of the sculpture and highlights many of the problems inherent in the acquisition of kinetic works of art.

Kinetic light artist Thomas Wilfred (1889–1968) created Lumia Suite, Opus 158 as a complex construction of polished and painted metal, projectors, electric motors, fans, mirrors, and a rear projection screen. Meant to be seen in a dedicated, darkened room, it was commissioned in 1963 by New York’s Museum of Modern Art and on view nearly continuously until it was deinstalled in 1981. It was in storage for the past thirty-five years. In preparation for the Yale University Art Gallery’s 2017 exhibition Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light, the installation was unpacked, assessed, conserved, repaired, and reconstructed to bring it to working, exhibitable condition.

Tate has a long history of displaying and treating kinetic works of art, each of which generates its own unique and challenging technical and ethical questions. Umbrella by Wen-Ying Tsai (1928–2013) highlights the many philosophical and ethical questions raised by the conservation treatment of kinetic artworks. In this paper we consider both the sculptural and technical aspects of the artwork as well as the need to determine the significant characteristics and properties, physical as well as behavioral, to be conserved. We also examine the philosophical and ethical challenges presented by the preservation of kinetic artworks when reviewed against the need for longevity and functionality.

These are complex questions, and we decided that a collaborative approach would lead to a successful decision-making process and informed outcomes. We discuss the collaboration between the institution and the artist’s foundation, and its role in maintaining the difficult balance between artistic intention and technical functionality. We also explore the various skill sets (of conservators, technicians, engineers, and manufacturers) that were brought together to complete this complex project successfully.

As Yet Untitled (1992–95), a robotic arm and photograph installation by Toronto-based artist Max Dean (b. 1949), was a critical success from its first exhibition, but it is also a temperamental and unreliable machine. The refurbishment project for this kinetic work at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) was initiated by a loan request from a Montreal gallery for a 2013 exhibition. Like most variable-media works of art, As Yet Untitled challenged the traditional framework for the conservation of art. To successfully restore it to working order, a volunteer mechatronics engineer and the artist provided crucial support for conservation staff.