L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY T h e s c u l p t u r e Giraffa Artifi- ciale is finally on d i s p l a y a t t h e Natural History Museum in Milan after being restored thanks to a project initiated by the Getty Con- servation Institute in col- laboration with Museo del Novecento, Museum of C u l t u r e o f M i l a n o (MUDEC) and Centro Con- servazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale. The work, which is a 9-foot-tall sculp- tural giraffe made of trans- parent pink plastic, is owned by the Museum of Novecento and was created by the Ital- ian artist Gino Marotta in 1973. The project was coordi- n a t e d b y A n n a L a g a n à , senior research specialist in the conservation of plastics at the Getty Conservation I n s t i t u t e ( G C I ) . A n n a Laganà, from Rome, Italy, is a modern and contemporary a r t c o n s e r v a t o r a n d researcher who joined the GCI Science Department in 2016, within the Modern and Contemporary Art initiative. Her work focuses on devel- oping treatments and preser- vation strategies for plastic artefacts in museum collec- tions and designing work- shops on their conservation. Why was it important t o h a v e t h i s w o r k restored? Giraffa Artificiale, by Gino M a r o t t a , i s a w o n d e r f u l example of how artists in those years embraced tech- nologies and used industrial products such as plastics for their creations. The way in w h i c h M a r o t t a , s i n c e t h e 60s, has worked with plastics as an artistic medium has been experimental and inno- vative. He was a pioneer in handmade complex, monu- m e n t a l s c u l p t u r e s , a n d installations made with the t r a n s p a r e n t p l a s t i c p o l y - m e t h y l m e t h a c r y l a t e ( P M M A ) , a l s o k n o w n a s acrylic. He used this material to explore the relationship between natural and artifi- cial, creating a "Synthetic E d e n " m a d e o f c o l o r f u l transparent plants, animals, and environments, in which viewers are invited to enter and immerse themselves. G i r a f f a A r t i f i c i a l e i s t h e largest sculptural animal he made by masterfully shaping and assembling 67 pieces of acrylic. T h e w o r k " G i r a f f a Artificiale" can be con- s i d e r e d a c a s e s t u d y . Why so? This sculpture has been kept for more than 20 years in storage due to its poor condition; the work was cov- ered in dust and scratches, several parts of it were bro- ken, and various fragments were missing. Unfortunately, m a n y a r t w o r k s m a d e o f transparent plastics, such as Giraffa Artificiale are left in s t o r a g e o r d e a c c e s s i o n e d from collections once they are damaged, due to the lack of conservation treatments for repairing them, and par- ticularly, to the difficulty of restoring their transparency. Over the last few years, the Getty Conservation Institute has carried out extensive research to identify materials and develop methods to suc- cessfully repair objects made with transparent plastics, particularly PMMA. Thanks to the similarities with glass r e s t o r a t i o n , o u r r e s e a r c h investigated several tech- niques used for its conserva- tion that could be utilized with plastic, too. We recently completed this research and identified Giraffa Artificiale as a case study to illustrate the challenges of preserving transparent plastics. W h a t w a s t h e m a i n goal of the project? T h e m a i n g o a l w a s t o bring Getty's research into practice via the treatment of this monumental sculpture while finally providing con- servators with strategies to safeguard these artworks and ensure they can be exhibited again. The project included several dissemination activi- ties such as open lab days for museum visitors and a work- shop on the conservation of plastics showcasing the treat- ment we used for the case s t u d y . T h i s w o r k s h o p , offered to 22 Italian conser- vators, was organized in col- laboration with the Italian project Storie di Plastica and took place at the MUDEC conservation laboratory. W h a t i s y o u r b a c k - g r o u n d a n d h o w d i d you discover your pas- sion for plastic conserva- tion? I graduated as a conserva- tor at the Istituto Centrale p e r i l R e s t a u r o ( I C R ) i n R o m e , o n e o f t h e m o s t notable training institutes in the conservation field, with a t h e s i s o n p l a s t i c s . T h a t ' s when my passion for plastic conservation started. After that, and before joining the GCI, I had the opportunity to manage my own company as well as work within larger institutions in varied roles, including Coordinator of the Contemporary Art Conserva- tion Laboratory at the Centro Conservazione Restauro La Venaria Reale in Turin, as a conservator/researcher at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, conduct- ing research on plastics con- servation, and as a lecturer at Master's Program in Conser- vation of Modern and Con- temporary Art at the Univer- sity of Amsterdam. During my period in Amsterdam, I worked closely with Thea van Oosten, one of the first scien- tists researching plastics in the conservation field. She has been a mentor for me and working with her con- tributed to increasing my passion for both research and plastics. W h a t ' s t h e b i g g e s t challenge in the conser- v a t i o n o f m o d e r n a n d contemporary art? The challenges in this field are many, but conserving plastics is definitely one of the biggest. Plastics have b e e n e x t e n s i v e l y u s e d t o make an infinite variety of objects, which form a signifi- cant part of our cultural her- itage now. Unfortunately, t h e s e m a t e r i a l s w e r e n o t designed to last forever. Over the last thirty years, many types of plastic have proved to be unstable and quickly showed signs of degradation. In some cases, the degrada- t i o n i s s o d r a m a t i c t h a t works of art made with them can no longer be displayed. This is why research in this field is needed. What are other pro- jects you have worked on in the US? I had the opportunity to work with several US institu- tions over the years. I collab- orated with the Guggenheim in New York carrying out research and treatments for a group of important painted plastic works in preparation f o r t h e i r 2 0 1 6 e x h i b i t i o n Moholy-Nagy: Future Pre- sent. I held a workshop on the conservation of plastics at the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. Last year I was invited to Syracuse Uni- versity as an annual lecturer for the 2022 Brodsky Series f o r t h e A d v a n c e m e n t o f Library Conservation. On that occasion, I also gave advice on the conservation of their plastics collection. Cur- rently, I am collaborating with the Wende Museum in LA for a GCI project focusing on plastics in design. They have all been great collabora- tions. W h i c h o t h e r p l a s t i c work of art would you like to work on next? I would like to investigate treatments to conserve the early plastic cellulose nitrate, o n e o f t h e m o s t u n s t a b l e plastics, also known as cellu- loid. Many iconic objects made with this material have literally disintegrated. So, I would like this to be my next challenge. SILVIA NITTOLI USA-ITALY synergy to restore "Giraffa Artificiale" art work A moment of the Giraffa Artificiale's restoration (Photo: Samuele Pellecchia)

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