- Tokyo/Melbourne
- Editor, Journal of the Institute of Conservation (JIC), Department Memberadd
- Stone conservation, Lime Mortars, Lime mortars and plasters, Iranian Archaeology, Iranian art and archaeology, Iranian Paleolithic, and 7 moreGeology, Art Conservation, Science for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Architectural Conservation, Phytoliths, Phytolith Analysis, and Applications of Machine Learningedit
Please go to the Open Access final published version: https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2023.2241246 This article explores the role of conservators and focusses on their creative agency in the preservation of cultural heritage. It... more
Please go to the Open Access final published version: https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2023.2241246
This article explores the role of conservators and focusses on their creative agency in the preservation of cultural heritage. It argues that conservators constitute a "recursive public" who collectively make the field both highly collaborative and highly modifiable. The author then sets out how conservators engage in a form of “ontological constructivism” where they use their creative agencies in adversarial, anexact and generative processes and act as “art-developers” to commit to the next version of a work.
Drawing parallels with software development, the author proposes that conservation should be seen as a form of version control that creates time-stamped "versions of record" that persist until the next cycle of care. To emphasis the lack of finality in any art work the author produces a series of “endgames” to illustrate the ontologically open-ended nature of cultural heritage. The article suggests that in exploring the distributed nature of creative agency through the lens of version control, conservation can provide greater understanding into the real conditions of art and cultural production and how they continue to evolve over time. This then help disrupt conventional notions of authorship and allows conservation to contribute to a more inclusive understanding of art and culture in our institutions.
Keywords: allographic, autographic, creativity, art-developer, recursive public, version control
This article explores the role of conservators and focusses on their creative agency in the preservation of cultural heritage. It argues that conservators constitute a "recursive public" who collectively make the field both highly collaborative and highly modifiable. The author then sets out how conservators engage in a form of “ontological constructivism” where they use their creative agencies in adversarial, anexact and generative processes and act as “art-developers” to commit to the next version of a work.
Drawing parallels with software development, the author proposes that conservation should be seen as a form of version control that creates time-stamped "versions of record" that persist until the next cycle of care. To emphasis the lack of finality in any art work the author produces a series of “endgames” to illustrate the ontologically open-ended nature of cultural heritage. The article suggests that in exploring the distributed nature of creative agency through the lens of version control, conservation can provide greater understanding into the real conditions of art and cultural production and how they continue to evolve over time. This then help disrupt conventional notions of authorship and allows conservation to contribute to a more inclusive understanding of art and culture in our institutions.
Keywords: allographic, autographic, creativity, art-developer, recursive public, version control
Research Interests:
Two mortar samples were collected from the ruins of the Sasanian Palace and IlKhānid Caravanserai at Bisotun to establish whether lime was used in their building and, given the sites’ heterogeneity, to make a basic evaluation of their... more
Two mortar samples were collected from the ruins of the Sasanian Palace and IlKhānid Caravanserai at Bisotun to establish whether lime was used in their building and, given the sites’ heterogeneity, to make a basic evaluation of their research potential for understanding both production methods and usefulness for dating and correlation with the site’s different build phases. Standard polished thin sections at 30 microns were analysed using a polarising transmitted light microscope and an initial characterization of the historic mortars is reported and discussed.
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Editorial introducing nine articles published in the 40th anniversary special issue of the Journal of the Institute of Conservation on the future of conservation.
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcon20/40/2
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcon20/40/2
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Abstract: This paper presents an account of the conservation works undertaken on a section of the London Wall at The Grange City Hotel, 8-14 Cooper's Row, London, between April 2013 and September 2015. A theoretical preamble describes the... more
Abstract: This paper presents an account of the conservation works undertaken on a section of the London Wall at The Grange City Hotel, 8-14 Cooper's Row, London, between April 2013 and September 2015. A theoretical preamble describes the caveats around any notion of authenticity in executing archaeological conservation. A summary is then provided detailing the conservation problems faced and the remedial treatments undertaken on the section in a series 30 and 40 day sessions per year, and includes details of the condition, testing, treatments and materials used during those works. The article concludes with a brief end-section to suggest future conservation works to mitigate the continuing effects of the extant decay mechanisms.
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A response to the authors’ reply to my discussion of their paper ‘‘An introduction to the karst geomorphology of the Bisetun-Taq-e Bostan historical region (northeast Kermanshah, Iran) with special emphasis on karst development as a... more
A response to the authors’ reply to my discussion of their paper ‘‘An introduction to the karst geomorphology of the Bisetun-Taq-e Bostan historical region (northeast Kermanshah, Iran) with special emphasis on karst development as a serious threat for the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bull Eng Geol Environ
doi:10.1007/s10064-014-0662-0’’
doi:10.1007/s10064-014-0662-0’’
Research Interests:
Rebuttal of a recent paper in Springer's Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment on the threat to the preservation of Taq-e Bostan, published by Springer, March 2015 (access required). The article under discussion, whilst... more
Rebuttal of a recent paper in Springer's Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment on the threat to the preservation of Taq-e Bostan, published by Springer, March 2015 (access required).
The article under discussion, whilst providing generalized accounts of the effects of waterflows in karstic formations, fails, in the opinion of this respondent, to substantiate the claims that an immediate threat is posed to the continued preservation of the monuments at Tāq-e Bostān, the focus of this response.
The article under discussion, whilst providing generalized accounts of the effects of waterflows in karstic formations, fails, in the opinion of this respondent, to substantiate the claims that an immediate threat is posed to the continued preservation of the monuments at Tāq-e Bostān, the focus of this response.
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Research Interests:
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The last decade or so has seen the transformation of knowledge-behaviours by the World Wide Web. The key to this rapid shift has been both the advent of the free software (or 'open source') movement and Web 2.0, whereby knowledge content... more
The last decade or so has seen the transformation of knowledge-behaviours by the World Wide Web. The key to this rapid shift has been both the advent of the free software (or 'open source') movement and Web 2.0, whereby knowledge content has moved away from being a flat one-to-many model to a model of many-to-many content generation. The latter offers vast possibilities in the circulation of knowledge and of unlimited exchange in cultural content. As the Museum pushes itself into the digital domain, there entails a raft of demands and consequences about the knowledge economy in which it currently sees itself operating. It is against this background that this short paper will address a notion of practical ethics.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/conservation-journal/issue-56/practical-ethics/
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/conservation-journal/issue-56/practical-ethics/
Research Interests:
This paper focusses on the conservation of 47 lifesize Victorian sandstone sculptures from the Jenners Building, Edinburgh. In recent years, partially as a result of previous repair programmes, the sculptures had suffered severely from... more
This paper focusses on the conservation of 47 lifesize Victorian sandstone sculptures from the Jenners Building, Edinburgh. In recent years, partially as a result of previous repair programmes, the sculptures had suffered severely from material loss, disaggregation, exfoilation, the formation of crusts, and microbiological infestations. Sandstone samples were examined under XRD and SEM to identify their mineralogy, porosity, and extant salt content. Other untreated samples, and those treated with an alkoxysilane consolidant, underwent immersion and capillary uptake tests to determine water absorption and capillary rise rates. The use of an alkoxysilane consolidant is discussed, and the other surface and structural interventions that were carried out are described.
Research Interests:
This chapter is part of a book by the Swiss Institute for Art Research SIK-ISEA https://www.sik-isea.ch published in October 2022. ISBN978-3-03942-119-0 https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/catalog/book/1047. My... more
This chapter is part of a book by the Swiss Institute for Art Research SIK-ISEA https://www.sik-isea.ch published in October 2022. ISBN978-3-03942-119-0
https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/catalog/book/1047.
My contribution is part of a wider book project that makes the argument that all conservation - whether on old or new art/cultural heritage - is akin to version control with each iteration a 'version of record', and that conservators are like art-developers.
Recent ideas coming from contemporary art conservation-especially performance, installation, media art-have focused on how documentation and archiving are key to preserving the identity and continuity of such artworks. By comparing documentation (in its widest sense) from various iterations of a work conservators make decisions around what changes are permissible for any subsequent iteration. Various models have been proposed for this decision-making and all are designed to assimilate how such artworks are both necessarily open-ended and changeable. These model's all suggest that conservators can both manage change and understand the parameters necessary for maintaining an artwork's identity through that change. Where many approaches to conservation, of contemporary art or otherwise, continue to be founded around notions of identity and, by default, autography, one argument to be made is that the preservation of cultural heritage is ultimately an allographic process and that any iteration of a work effects a particular and time-stamped 'version of record'. The logic of this approach is that conservation can be recast as being fundamentally engaged in practices akin to Version Control (VC). Typically VC systems allow each phase of software development to be made accessible for cross-checking against any other version by all involved. VC thus allows collaborative groups of people to work on a project without losing sight of any changes and, importantly, with the project's authorship being distributed. As such, each software project can be understood as ontologically open-ended and with either its obsolescence or forking into distinct programs both freighted within its VC management. This article will briefly describe Version Control practices used in technology; it will use case studies to draw links and parallels with practices by default enacted by conservators and others involved in the care of cultural heritage; finally it will discuss how recasting conservation's practices as acts of Version Control can help revitalise the profession by foregrounding its activities in the production of culture.
https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/catalog/book/1047.
My contribution is part of a wider book project that makes the argument that all conservation - whether on old or new art/cultural heritage - is akin to version control with each iteration a 'version of record', and that conservators are like art-developers.
Recent ideas coming from contemporary art conservation-especially performance, installation, media art-have focused on how documentation and archiving are key to preserving the identity and continuity of such artworks. By comparing documentation (in its widest sense) from various iterations of a work conservators make decisions around what changes are permissible for any subsequent iteration. Various models have been proposed for this decision-making and all are designed to assimilate how such artworks are both necessarily open-ended and changeable. These model's all suggest that conservators can both manage change and understand the parameters necessary for maintaining an artwork's identity through that change. Where many approaches to conservation, of contemporary art or otherwise, continue to be founded around notions of identity and, by default, autography, one argument to be made is that the preservation of cultural heritage is ultimately an allographic process and that any iteration of a work effects a particular and time-stamped 'version of record'. The logic of this approach is that conservation can be recast as being fundamentally engaged in practices akin to Version Control (VC). Typically VC systems allow each phase of software development to be made accessible for cross-checking against any other version by all involved. VC thus allows collaborative groups of people to work on a project without losing sight of any changes and, importantly, with the project's authorship being distributed. As such, each software project can be understood as ontologically open-ended and with either its obsolescence or forking into distinct programs both freighted within its VC management. This article will briefly describe Version Control practices used in technology; it will use case studies to draw links and parallels with practices by default enacted by conservators and others involved in the care of cultural heritage; finally it will discuss how recasting conservation's practices as acts of Version Control can help revitalise the profession by foregrounding its activities in the production of culture.
Research Interests:
Book ISBN: 978-981-4656-85-6
Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814656863_0002
Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814656863_0002
Research Interests:
The Monument to Marchese Spinetta Malaspina, a large-scale Renaissance stucco, marble and limestone memorial from Verona, Italy, has recently been dismantled for conservation before reinstallation in 2009, in the new Medieval and... more
The Monument to Marchese Spinetta Malaspina, a large-scale Renaissance stucco, marble and limestone memorial from Verona, Italy, has recently been dismantled for conservation before reinstallation in 2009, in the new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Since its removal from a Veronese church in 1886, the monument has been relocated three times, with its form being redefined with each reassembly. The properties of the monument’s predominant material, stucco, proved significant to the conservators involved in the monument’s deinstallation and preparation for reinstallation and raised several issues in relation to its authenticity. This contribution documents the chain of processes encountered in efforts to provide full documentation and disclosure of the monument’s complex past.
Since its removal from a Veronese church in 1886, the monument has been relocated three times, with its form being redefined with each reassembly. The properties of the monument’s predominant material, stucco, proved significant to the conservators involved in the monument’s deinstallation and preparation for reinstallation and raised several issues in relation to its authenticity. This contribution documents the chain of processes encountered in efforts to provide full documentation and disclosure of the monument’s complex past.
Research Interests:
Kemp, J. "Practical Ethics v2.0", in Bracker, A., Richmond, A., eds., 'Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas, and Uncomfortable Truths', Oxford: Elsevier, September 2009... more
Kemp, J. "Practical Ethics v2.0", in Bracker, A., Richmond, A., eds., 'Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas, and Uncomfortable Truths', Oxford: Elsevier, September 2009 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conservation-Principles-Dilemmas-Uncomfortable-Truths/dp/0750682019
Conservation's codes of ethics can only be successfully applied in a closed system and, as with many human agencies, conservation generally operates to a lesser or greater degree in open-ended systems, then all conservation actions are bound to fail when measured against any one version of the ethical codes of conservation. This chapter considers the execution of ethical behaviour in both present and future settings with the offer of a beginning to the resolution of this inherent contradiction.
Conservation's codes of ethics can only be successfully applied in a closed system and, as with many human agencies, conservation generally operates to a lesser or greater degree in open-ended systems, then all conservation actions are bound to fail when measured against any one version of the ethical codes of conservation. This chapter considers the execution of ethical behaviour in both present and future settings with the offer of a beginning to the resolution of this inherent contradiction.
Research Interests:
Kemp, J 'Marble' in A. Henry, ed., 'Stone Conservation: Principles and Practice', Abingdon, Donhead, 2006.
Research Interests:
Both natural weathering and anthropogenic pollution exert a range of pressures that trigger the decay of stone. These can be thought of as the physical effects of climate, particularly related to water and temperature and attack by an... more
Both natural weathering and anthropogenic pollution exert a range of pressures that
trigger the decay of stone. These can be thought of as the physical effects of climate,
particularly related to water and temperature and attack by an atmosphere loaded with
complexes of chemical pollutants. Conservation surveys to understand stone decay have
traditionally been carried out using methods that are often expensive and difficult to
execute because of site access, urban disruption and risk. Conventionally such survey
snapshots are executed either from the ground, scaffolds, or mobile platforms, all of
which are limited in terms of the holistic understanding of the stone heritage and its
decay patterns. Advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provide a platform from
which to obtain data rapidly using sensor technologies. We will report on a proof-of-
concept study that explores the application of UAV photogrammetry and machine
learning for automated detection and 3D visualisation of stone decay on a heritage
building. We outline some of the workflows including 3D reconstruction and Machine
Learning implementations we have completed to date. We will conclude by outlining the
project's next steps and quantify some of the computational scaling required.
trigger the decay of stone. These can be thought of as the physical effects of climate,
particularly related to water and temperature and attack by an atmosphere loaded with
complexes of chemical pollutants. Conservation surveys to understand stone decay have
traditionally been carried out using methods that are often expensive and difficult to
execute because of site access, urban disruption and risk. Conventionally such survey
snapshots are executed either from the ground, scaffolds, or mobile platforms, all of
which are limited in terms of the holistic understanding of the stone heritage and its
decay patterns. Advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provide a platform from
which to obtain data rapidly using sensor technologies. We will report on a proof-of-
concept study that explores the application of UAV photogrammetry and machine
learning for automated detection and 3D visualisation of stone decay on a heritage
building. We outline some of the workflows including 3D reconstruction and Machine
Learning implementations we have completed to date. We will conclude by outlining the
project's next steps and quantify some of the computational scaling required.
Research Interests:
My work examines relationships between computation and the materiality of its technical media. My response here is in three loosely connected prose pieces, meandering around two questions, 'what crime is being revealed'? And 'is a heresy... more
My work examines relationships between computation and the materiality of its technical media. My response here is in three loosely connected prose pieces, meandering around two questions, 'what crime is being revealed'? And 'is a heresy being committed'? The 1st part, Measure for Measure, is a bit about the Critical Infrastructures (CIS) project, followed by a short piece called What Crime?, which sketches out a more criminal project, before the 3rd part, on process and procedure, which examines the limits of thought and measurement, before ending with a short cadenza on matter and money. Its a bit of a poetic ramble, run at different speeds, that throws up some questions among its red herrings.
Collection of text/image works made in response to the construction and installation of two 'environmental amplifiers' in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. https://www.ixdm.ch/publications/tokyo-shift/. Accepted final... more
Collection of text/image works made in response to the construction and installation of two 'environmental amplifiers' in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
https://www.ixdm.ch/publications/tokyo-shift/. Accepted final texts here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BxuDKw7hEMMo1PHecyEbLtGRekjWhebW/view
https://www.ixdm.ch/publications/tokyo-shift/. Accepted final texts here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BxuDKw7hEMMo1PHecyEbLtGRekjWhebW/view
Research Interests:
Review of Hanna B. Hölling's 'Paik's Virtual Archive: Time, Change, and
Materiality in Media Art'
Materiality in Media Art'
Research Interests:
Acknowledging the trends of a new cultural-topological turn Jonathan Kemp reads Sha Xin Wei’s recent book on poiesis, enchantment and topology, inside out.