Foreword
The appetite of contemporary artists for experimentation is seemingly infinite, and the variety of materials they use is therefore correspondingly immense. This poses numerous conservation challenges, perhaps none as acute as with the use of biological materials in works of art. These can include flowers and plants, food and bodily fluids, and microorganisms. And because all that lives eventually dies, the preservation of such living matter can seem like an impossible paradox. Yet museums and institutions are routinely tasked with ensuring that these artworks endure.
It was to address this challenge that the symposium “Living Matter: The Preservation of Biological Materials Used in Contemporary Art / La Materia Viva: Conservación de materiales orgánicos en el arte contemporáneo” was conceived. The international meeting was co-organized by the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporaneo (MUAC) of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma Mexico, and ENCRyM (Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía “Manuel del Castillo Negrete”) and held in Mexico City in June 2019. It was attended by more than 150 conservators, curators, artists, art historians, and archivists, all of whom have a keen interest in preserving these unique and increasingly ubiquitous “living” materials. This volume documents the proceedings of this exciting and groundbreaking meeting.
The GCI’s involvement in both the conference and these proceedings stems from its Modern and Contemporary Art Research Initiative, launched in 2007 to address some of the complex challenges raised by the conservation of contemporary art. The initiative includes a strong research component, yet it also recognizes that one of the most effective ways of meeting these challenges is through networking and the dissemination of information among professionals in the field. One of the strategies adopted to achieve this goal is the organization of focused, singled-themed meetings, like this symposium, which present an opportunity to hear a range of different points of view, compare practices, and survey the current state of thinking.
Additionally, the GCI has a long history of collaborating with partners in Latin America. We were delighted to work alongside both MUAC and ENCRyM and to be able to host the symposium in vibrant Mexico City, which is teeming with contemporary art and artists and claims a dynamic contemporary art conservation community. We are extremely thankful to our partners for hosting a very successful symposium, and for their many contributions, both logistical and intellectual. We also gratefully acknowledge Kendra Roth and Rachel Rivenc for their careful and thoughtful editing of this volume.
“Living Matter / La Materia Viva” generated in-depth exchanges of knowledge and perspectives. As the first symposium dedicated to this topic, this conference has a singular significance, and it is important for everyone in the emerging field of preservation of biological materials to be able to access the resulting research, case studies, and discussions. We are therefore delighted that these proceedings are available in both digital and print formats, and we hope that they will play their part in helping keep these artworks alive.
- Timothy P. WhalenJohn E. and Louise Bryson DirectorGetty Conservation Institute