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Profession: book and paper conservator
What does a paper conservator do? Whom does she work for? What skills and knowledge does she ought to have? Preservation and conservation, a field linked to science, history and arts and crafts. A video explains what differenciates us from forgers and shows -among other- how we produce a hand-made suction table to restore paper artifacts, with loads of creativity, a feature most necessary to become book and paper conservator.
A midnight lockdown paper conservation dream
A lockdown is kind of stoping any activity, and that is what I have done, a stop-motion video, showing the full conservation treatment of a paper document.
Save the date: Tuesday 21st at 11h
Conference about impregnated tracing paper conservation and premier of the video of my latest super-oversized project
Christmas angels in serious condition,on their way to full recovery!
Christmas angels currently at ICU in serious condition. Diagnosis: chronical humidity, binding dislocation, a variety of infections and rodent attack. Prognostic is optimistic because a high level team is taking good care of them. Soon they'll be bright and happy as Larry, just like in this year's Christmas greetings. Don't miss the video!
Housing as a (quite desperate) conservation resource
New artwork arrives at the studio to be ready for an exhibition: pressure, limited time, bleeding inks... Could it not be some other easier and more showing off artefacts? Here's what I do when I don't seem to find much to do: Tape removal, and failing to flatten under tension with magnets... Mounting the artwork on a housing that secured an even tension on the artwork during the exhibition, was the last resource.
Untangling tensions, for an improved 2019
We wish you merry Chrsitmas and a better (and restored) 2019, untangling knots and tensions, at least those from parchment manuscripts.
Unlocking St. Anthony’s locked manuscript
"Tony, Tony, come around, something’s lost and can’t be found!" Some manuscripts require more than just manual skills to succeed in their conservation, and so we prayed to Saint Anthony to help us unlocking the bookbinding, whose key had been lost forever. Certainly not many renaissance bookbindings have an iron safety lock in their covers and thus this extra holly help was deemed quite necessary. The prayer didn't provide any key, but at least a satisfactory conservation solution was achieved!
Hold on and suck in, Miss Scarlett! Removing a plastic corset from a manuscript
A personal story, a historic manuscript, a crazy laminating machine and a final outcome. All these ingredients are seasoned with PFTE, TFA, HFIP, PE, DMSO, PET... cling, dong and BOOM!... An explosive -but most irresistible- cocktail. We'll discuss about synthetic polymers, sorts of laminations and encapsulation.
Mysterious iron rods in a 16th limp vellum binding
Case of a manuscript bound on a limp parchment bindining with peculiar sewing over iron rods
“Customized” conservation with Richard Wolbers
Fellows of joys and sorrows, conservators, here is why I am so excited with the "Cleaning workshop: Paper bathing/stain removal", given by Wolbers: The idea is to make every conservation treatment a kind of custom-made dress for each particular object with a minimal initial investment. He speaks about solvents, gels, surfactants, conductivity and pH. Nor in my wildest dreams had I imagined such a close, easy and useful chemistry. Thanks a lot Richard, we owe it to you.
This document will self-destruct in 30 secs!
Or how to remove pressure sensitive tapes, without removing them. We have spoken about bibliopaths, about misuses and how to eradicate its effects... But, what happens when the artefact itself causes its own degradation?
Tracing paper conservation, berliner style
I never enjoy anything as much as visiting other paper restoration studios, especially if they are private. They usually bear the imprint of a personal vocation, a personality which is barely present at institutional studios. I watch the space distribution, the tools, the jars... at Hildegard Homburger's studio. Is there a better way to nose around than becoming a berliner restorer for two days?
Posters conservation: virtual inpaint vs “virtuous” retouching
The bike riders from Sants reached my studio squeaking, rather than cycling! Tears, foxing, discolouration, brittleness, acidity... All these damages have been carefully restored in order to let the splendorous riders finish line at the Municipal Archive of Barcelona. They are almost centenarian... and yet they ride wild along the repository! I'll explain which beauty and health treatments these illustrated posters have passed through
I have mold! (…or is it foxing?)
Foxing is mould... or not? One of the main concerns in archives and libraries is the presence of mould. Not surprisingly: it develops without fanfare, and when it is detected, an irreversible loss of information might have taken place. Before pulling your hair out, you should identify whether the symptoms actually reveal fungal activity, or not. Not an easy assessment.
Flattening under tension on paper and parchment conservation
Flattening under tension may be an interesting alternative to the press and very useful when a selective flattened is required: dry seals, wax seals or even parchment and ink manuscripts. Explanation based on the recently discovered oldest documents from Sants-Montjuïch archive.
New conservation methodolgy to retrieve lost flexibility to brittle tracing paper
Approach to a new methodolgy to retrieve the lost flexibility to brittle paper. Tracing paper -so usual among technical drawings- have in common their transparency, but there are significant differences in the process to make them. The properties and behavior will be very different then. Impregnated papers, for an instance, were applied oils or varnishes to provide them translucency. Explanation restoration of several drawings in which the varnish was removed to replace it later.
Damned “sellotapes”!
Which damages cause sellotapes? Can we release documentary heritage from these fatty strips? Explanation for the degradation mechanisms of this historic "remedial" tapes that we can find in documents of all kinds, and restoration possibilities in each case.
Books washing-machine and new conservation methods for leather bindings
From the books washing machine to new methodologies for leather bindings restoration, a visit to Domènec's restoration studio is always a great pleasure!
Conservation of school poster from spanish civil war period
This map represents the typical scholar posters: with its wooden slats to roll and hang, lined on the back. It was very common to varnish them with shellac to waterproof and protect them from abrasion. This one was made of two pieces of printed paper, sticked together along the central horizontal stripe. It is from 1936, spanish civil war was barely breaking. Removing the old varnish has allowed to repare other minor damages: tears, gaps and wrinkles. But most important is that the new varnish is not oxidizing nor yellowing. As it is very flexible it will not crack in the future.
Nanotechnology & chemical gels applied to paper conservation
What are nanoparticles and chemical gels? Latest technological advances in restoration of archive material is about nanotechnology and chemical gels and so it is studied in the paper & books section of the IPCE.
