Course overview for Rice University course entitled Engineering and Design for Art Conservation. http://edaac.rice.edu

1. Engineering Design for Art Conservation Matthew Wettergreen, Ph.D. http://edaac.rice.edu

2. “ The basic aim of education is not to accumulate knowledge, but rather to learn to think creatively, teach oneself and seek answers to questions as yet unexplored” Jim Killian, former president, MIT Advantages of this course for solving new problems: Multi-disciplinary course Marrying of aesthetics and decision processes Utilizes resources of world-renowned institutions

3. Course Overview Art Conservation Learn the history of art conservation, current techniques and approaches Be able to critically discuss the challenges and ethical discussions that affect modern conservation practice Engineering Design Process Learn the engineering design process as a framework for problem solving Be able to apply the engineering design process to solve future problems in your engineering or humanities discipline Creativity Learn creativity and brainstorming activities enhancing your ability to creatively address problem solving Learn how to employ new web tools and a digital workflow for project management Be able to produce blogs, podcasts and incorporate video and audio for documentation

4. Course Particulars ENGI/HUMA 240: Engineering and Design for Art Conservation Meets Tues/Thurs 9:25-10:40AM in Humanities 119 No Prerequisites, no exams Attendance is mandatory, laptops in class are encouraged Weekly writing assignment based on readings and lecture 1 midterm paper compiled from weekly assignments 1 semester project worked on in student teams

5. Weekly Writing Assignments This course will utilize a Web 2.0 digital workflow You will set up your own blog and use online tools to complete your research and writing assignments (flickr, delicious, wiki) Up to two posts will be made per week Team project progress report Recap of the week’s material Goal of these writing assignments Get you to engage the course material critically Write in a format that is accessible to readers while providing topical information relating to engineering and conservation. Give you an informal, creative outlet for your coursework Become active learners, rather than relying upon the instructor to present all relevant information

6. Team Project Students will divide into multi-disciplinary teams of ~4 Each team will select a work of art fromthe Museum of Fine Arts’ permanent collection Each team will develop a custom storage solution for that artwork Art conservation information will be used as background Engineering Design Process will be used as a decision-based framework to develop this product Goal of this team project Deliver an innovative storage solution to the MFAH Transfer abstract concepts to concrete results Explore a decision based framework for real world problem solving

7. A Tour of Engineering for Art Conservation

8. Digital Workflow The new web is Web 2.0: transparent, open, distributed, collaborative, free Set up and run your own blog for the semester Learn how to use web 2.0 tools for project management and documentation

9. Differing Development Pathways Decision and exploration based history of Engineering The role of war in the history of Art Museums Cultural history of Houston and the MFAH

10. Preservation of Our Cultural Heritage “The measure of a society is not its technology but its art” The recent rise of modern conservation and “minimal intervention”

11. The Hidden Museum The museum you never knew existed: storage, conservation, registration, more storage The role and function of the modern museum The inner workings of the modern museum

12. Handling and Storing our Cultural Heritage The concerns and rules of art handling The outdated procedures of art storage Environmental monitoring systems

13. Materials of Art Materials and properties of materials in art Materials and properties of materials for art storage

14. Disaster Strikes! Damage, Destruction, Degradation Prevention of damage Ethical considerations of conservation

15. Conservation in Practice Perspective from modern conservators Interaction with environment over the lifetime of an artwork “Artist Intent” in conservation considerations

16. Engineering Art Conservation New techniques for art investigation New techniques for art restoration

17. Case Studies Each lecture will be capped with a case study Case study will provide a transition between the art world and the engineering world

20. Art for Engineering Employ creativity for new ways of conceptualizing information Use brainstorming for developing new ideas

21. Quantifying Quality / Qualifying Quantity Pugh Analysis to assign value to qualitative information Illustration to add aesthetics to technical data

22. Maker Week!! Design evaluation for superior products Iterative prototyping

23. Lighting the Way The future of the museum and conservation Perspectives from Bell Labs E.A.T.

24. Picture References Slide 1 http://www.twickenham.co.uk/images/engineering_R2R_Tooling.jpg http://www.shafe.co.uk/crystal/images/lshafe/David_Marat_at_his_Last_Breath_1793.jpg http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/self_portraits/img/img_warhol_self-portrait_lg.jpg http://www.artcons.udel.edu/uploads/index/dc332f73291c0f36e31b6471702057d0.gif http://www.motoria.net/Images/Development_process.gif Slide 8 http://zerostrategist.com/wp-content/uploads/web20map.png http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1154/591163479_d35f7b50d7.jpg http://organismos.chubut.gov.ar/gobiernodigital/files/2009/07/23-wordpress_logo.png http://www-sop.inria.fr/members/Sylvain.Pion/images/delicious_logo.jpg http://www.iesgrancapitan.org/blog05/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/600px-wikipedia-logo.png http://www.kynonprofits.org/Portals/18/Flickr-logo.jpg Slide 9 http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/350524422_f5df7077aa.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Kepler-solar-system-2.gif http://www.creativescreenwriting.com/csdaily/csdart/images/2004-06-June/Monty%20Python%20Holy%20Grail%20-%20Clip%20clop%20(300w).jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/59/169067160_b43e976e12.jpg?v=0 http://www.bigwoodvise.com/whats_new/Archimedes_Stamp.jpg

25. Picture References Slide 10 http://www.preview-art.com/Conservators/02-2008/oddytest.jpg http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/97/Conservation_at_the_Church_of_Sucevi%C5%A3a.jpg/300px-Conservation_at_the_Church_of_Sucevi%C5%A3a.jpg http://english.chinamil.com.cn/site2/images/2009-06/14/xin_150606140725828181247.jpg http://artforprofits.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/restoreart.jpg Slide 12 http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2498/3682137885_4b14d2259e.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2583/3682148527_344536c7cb.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2216/3682150407_0bf8efeeec.jpg Slide 13 http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/images/marble1seta.jpg http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/photofiles/list/406/775paintbrushes.jpg http://www.metaledgeinc.com/ME_images/volara39a1.jpg http://www.vestaldesign.com/blog/uploaded_images/VirtualBubbleWrap-759347.png http://www.deviantart.com/download/75033810/Old_paper_41_stock_by_ofruin_stock.jpg

26. Picture References Slide 14 http://www.worldharmonyrun.org/images/italia/news/2007/0331h.jpg http://www.drweb.de/textures/rust-0673.jpg http://jazba.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/earthquake-gallery-3.jpg Slide 15 http://artforprofits.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/picasso-pitcher.jpg http://www.life123.com/bm.pix/perfume-bottle.s600x600.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/5/7496201_21ce7f59f4.jpg?v=0 Slide 16 http://www.rob.cs.tu-bs.de/content/03-research/01-projects/35-3dscanner/david_3d_laser_scanner.jpg http://www.howardmodels.com/frank-lloyd-wright/guggenheim-museum-model/guggenheim-museum1.jpg http://www.vedicsciences.net/design/bacteria5.jpg Slide 17 http://fthats.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/1_edible_estates.jpg http://www.media.rice.edu/images/media/2005RiceNews/1208_front.jpg http://www.vaticanotours.com/g/sistine_chapel.jpg Slide 19 http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/99/maya/tech/pic/brainstorm.gif http://www.benheck.com/Games/VCS_projects/Vagabonds/BarNapkin.jpg

27. Picture References Slide 20 http://www.sigmazone.com/images/Pugh%20Tail%20Rotor.gif http://www.grohe.com.sg/lib/18/catalogue_p1/masszeichnungen/Z38519001.jpg Slide 21 http://www.holkoconsulting.com/images/mechanical_test_ladder3.jpg http://www.sigmak.ltd.uk/sitepix/images/cast-Iron-valve.jpg http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/ShrikeArghast/DSCN0015.jpg http://www.sspa.se/sites/www.sspa.se/files/Model_and_prototyping_.jpg http://jra-technologies.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Cirris_Hi-Pot_Testing.120161712_std.jpg Slide 22 http://graememitchell.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/galerie-lelong-andy-goldsworthy.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1309/1478181275_adf98f96d0.jpg http://citynoise.org/cache/preview/18795.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/124/380893945_b6949e8ee8.jpg?v=0