The work of art in the age of its technoscientific re-enhancement : recasting light, Colloids, and microbes for art and heritage conservation in U.S. and Italian laboratories

This ethnography tracks a diverse set of scientific practices that have developed new technologies for the conservation of artworks and cultural heritage. I examine how scientists in physics, chemistry, and biology have intervened in the restoration of artifacts ranging from faded abstract expressionist paintings to the crumbling clay terraces of an archaeological site. Reporting on archival research, interviews, and participant-observation, I juxtapose three case studies in the U.S. and Italy-two in which physics (Cambridge, MA) and chemistry (Florence) are conscripted into the realm of high modem art, and another in which biological knowledge (Milan) informs the preservation of artistic tradition and craft heritage.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Kim, Grace,Ph. D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Stefan Helmreich.

• Program in Science, Technology and Society.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122492

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122492