In April 2007 the Cambridge Arts Council presented the Material Choice exhibition in conjunction with the city-wide Cambridge Science Festival.
Curated by Rika Smith McNally, CAC Conservator of Public Art, and Lillian Hsu, CAC Director of Public Art, the exhibition presented six public art case studies that demonstrate the importance of pre-fabrication reviews when attempting to forsee maintenance requirements for public art projects.
Material Choice: Conservation, Science, and Public Art
The materials of the public artist long ago moved beyond bronze, marble, and stained glass. Contemporary artists do not hesitate to dip into the pockets of the material world to retrieve something that sparks their imagination or might serve a desired effect. At the Cambridge Arts Council we encourage public artists to experiment, and our public art collection reflects the growth of technology that continues to expand the artist’s palette. At the same time we must meet the challenge of ensuring that our public art collection endures.
The urban realm is a complex environment full of unpredictable activities that exert their forces on even the simplest of objects. The City is a lively, active world with an intense level of usage. Weather happens. Things fall apart. Accidents occur.
Meeting these elements is the public artist, who has an aesthetic vision that must be realized in the context of a built environment. Public art has always been about collaboration, but in addition to the artist/patron relationship, contemporary public art also includes collaboration with the general public, arts administrators, architects, city planners, landscape designers, fabricators, and art conservators. Assisting both the artist, who must choose materials that will satisfy a concept within a budget, and the arts agency, which must maintain an art collection for the continued benefit of the public, is the art conservator, who serves as a materials guide combining scientific concepts with the physical care of art.
Material Choice: Conservation, Science, and Public Art presents examples of questions that must be answered in the process of constructing public artworks that will last. Every public art project is unique. Artists are bold experimenters and often push the known limits of a material or process. Art conservators must balance their knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of materials with their goal of helping the artist realize their desires for a particular surface, structure, or texture. This is the conversation highlighted in this exhibition.
We invite you to join this dialogue and to consider your own responses to the questions posed by this exhibition:
1. What degree of permanence is desirable or necessary for public art?
2. What happens if the artist’s vision entails a certain degree of change, even decay, of materials?
3. What degree of risk is tolerable with a new application of a commonly used material or the choice of a totally new material?
4. What has priority: The artist’s vision? The budget? The longevity of the artwork? Ease of maintenance?
We encourage you to visit our public art collection and share your thoughts with us.
A virtual tour and resource guide to our collection may be found at:
www.cambridgeartscouncil.org
Material Choices are revealed for the following six artists:
 Choice of Steel = Change of Scale: Nancy Selvage
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To ensure the longevity of her artwork, artist Nancy Selvage must find the balance between the durability of steel and the scale of her artistic vision.
 Performance in Black and White: Toshihiro Katayama
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Find out why CAC’s Conservator recommended that a high-tech paint, typically used for airplanes, be applied for the first time in Cambridge on Katayama’s public art in the highly trafficked Porter Square.
When "Polished" Isn't Hard: Wall Choice for Randal Thurston
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Gallery-goers are invited to test tile walls for washability to demonstrate that not all factory surface treatments are equal.
The Quest for the Golden Ball: Mags Harries and Lajos Héder
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When a gold-plated stainless steel ball floating in water shows signs of corrosion, an MIT metallurgist and CAC’s Conservator join forces to suggest a submersed solution.
Patina and the Watchful Eye: A Dialogue with David Phillips
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Outdoor patinas used for bronze sculpture are considered by artist David Phillips and CAC's Conservator to see how their aging processes alter color and surface and affect maintenance.
Galaxy Exploration in Rubber and Polymer: Mierle Laderman Ukeles
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Experimenting with rubber granules and a water-based adhesive more commonly found in outdoor running tracks, Mierle Laderman Ukeles challenges the boundaries of her materials.
View the Exhibition Glossary
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