Seeking Balance: Conservation Values and the Artist’s Voice

ABSTRACT Traditional exhibition standards in museums may be challenged when an artist assumes an active role in determining the display parameters of a work or exhibition. Particularly with art created since the mid-twentieth century, artists have increasingly conceived their work to encompass aspects of its display environment and have deliberately blurred the boundaries between viewer and art. Finding ways to mediate the desires of the artist and the conditions that would best protect the physical object can be a challenge. Methods for this process may include light-reducing window films, creative exhibition design, and the use of exhibition copies. However, in recent years there has been an increasing reliance on waivers, signed by the owner, that acknowledge a departure from traditional display guidelines and absolves the museum of any consequences. This practice, while legal, raises ethical concerns as to the role and obligations of the conservator charged with the preservation of the work. Drawing from case studies at the Whitney Museum of American Art, this paper explores ways that conservators can continue to provide guidance as we operate in these non-traditional settings.