Conservation of Design

An exploration of the challenges of preserving design objects in contemporary museum practice, where objects ranging from prototypes to digital media present new problems for conservators.

An exploration of the challenges of preserving design objects in contemporary museum practice, where objects ranging from prototypes to digital media present new problems for conservators.

Aimed at collections professionals and design enthusiasts alike, the authors follow the object’s lifespan from prototype to mass production, and ultimately to display or research collections. Through case studies and contributions from conservators, designers, educators, and curators, the book examines the participatory nature of conserving design, the particular demands of interactive and digital media, and the persistent problem of technological obsolescence.

From coffee pots to mobile apps, the chapters reveal how objects are effectively re-designed for a new user: the museum visitor. Drawing on professional practice and scholarship from fields including anthropology, sociology, and Science and Technology Studies, the contributions establish an interdisciplinary perspective on the conservation of design collections.

Ch 1: Prototypes: Conservation and Context; Mass production and marks of use; Speculative design, material vulnerability, and display; Technology as prototype; Design practice for a conservator; Exploring Speculative Prototyping in Museum Education; Ch 2: Design Icons: Conserving mass-produced furniture; Chairs as Design Icons; From commodity to icon; The Trouble with Icons; Case Study: The Air Line Chair; Analysis and Materials Identification; Case Study: Blow Chair; Investigation: Original or later edition?; Backups and replacements; Discussion: casuistry for icons; Collaborative Conservation Story; Ch 3: Participatory Conservation: Performance and process; Case studies: Participation in the gallery; Public Programming and Residency; Emotional Entanglement and ANT; Shared Stewardship; Collaboration between conservators and artists; Displaying wallpaper designs; Participatory Conservation at Work; Ch 4: Transformative stewardship for Interactive Digital Design; Digital collections; Interaction and performative materiality; Control, Endangerment, Resilience; Case Study: Planetary; Case study: Watercolor Maps; Accessibility in Digital Conservation; Ch 5: The Afterlives of objects: Obsolescence by Design; Introducing Obsolescence; Afterlives; Critical Vocabulary; Coping with Obsolescence; “Buying time”; Accepting obsolescence; Fluorescent lamp patina; Artifacts of Absence; Body Out of Fashion; Afterword; Glossary; References; Contributors; Acknowledgements

• By (author) Sarah Barack
• By (author) Kate Wight Tyler
• By (author) Jessica Walthew