Contributions to the 6th AICCM Book, Paper & Photographic Materials Symposium. 17-19th November 2010, Melbourne. p43-47
Abstract
During the 1980s and 1990s Bill Henson made a number of photographic collage works. These works, sometimes referred to as cut screens, were created on a support of either plywood, or corrugated cardboard adhered to a wood framework. The support was left bare or covered with glassine and cut up photographs were attached to the support using blue metal tacks, if required, and self-adhesive tape. Over time the tape began to fail and the artist decided to change the works so that rather than readhering or replacing the pieces of tape he used pins to hold the pieces of tape and the photographs in their original positions. Later collage works were taped and pinned by the artist at the time of creation in recognition of the inherent instability of the tape. In a few instances the artist replaced photograph pieces where discolouration or fading affected the appearance of the works. Based on documentation of the works in the AGNSW collection and interviews with Henson, this paper looks at the materials and techniques used to create these works and compares Henson’s approach to their conservation with more conventional conservation approaches.