Kim &
Cobb
Artist
Nicole Cobb
Undergraduate student
- Emory University
Scientist
Sunmin Kim
- Undergraduate students ​
- Emory University
'Restoration'
Ceramic work
Artist's Narrative
“Restoration” is a ceramic piece done in the style of Japanese kintsugi: the art of repairing broken pottery with gold. The gold holding the cracks in the piece together represents the various different polymer-based adhesives created for art restoration at the Carlos Museum. These adhesives are formed by dissolving Paranoid B-72 and B-48N acrylic pellets in acetone and must meet a Goldilocks standard. The adhesive strength should not be too weak such as to fail in holding the restored art together nor too strong such as to damage the restored art. Although these adhesives are typically imperceivable in restored artworks, they are represented in gold in this piece to highlight the importance in studying their material properties. This piece incorporates Kintsugi philosophy, which is about embracing flaws and reminds us that there is still utility and beauty to be found in broken things.
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Abstract
by Sunmin Kim
Since conservator Stephen Koob’s 1986 publication, the acrylic polymer Paraloid B-72 has been widely used as a reliably stable and reversible adhesive for restoration in the art conservation field. In recent years, conservators have begun to incorporate the less commonly used and stiffer polymer Paranoid B-48N into blends with B-72. Applied as a solution in acetone, these adhesives solidify due to their underlying polymers’ glass transition occurring by the evaporation of solvent over time. As these blended adhesives are applied to historically significant and irreplaceable artifacts, we must measure and record the strength of the adhesives prior to their incorporation. In our project, glass rods are broken and repaired with adhesives created out of varying B-72:B-48N ratios. The adhesives are evaluated for their tensile fracture strengths utilizing the Conservation Adhesive Tensile-to-Shear (CATS) Tester and additionally examined for their glass transitions using an optical instrument known as an ellipsometer.