Active Preventive Conservation. The creation of strategies of prevention through direct work with the artists

  • Ruth del Fresno-Guillem Testimoniart Toronto, Canadá
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37558/gec.v20i1.1081
Keywords: active preventive conservation, emerging artists, mid-career artists, awareness, synergies

Abstract

For more than a decade, the researcher of this paper has collaborated and actively participated in creating awareness and conservation strategies within the community of what is referred to as emerging and mid-career artists and art professionals. The idea of active preventive conservation stems from that work. Through research that culminated in a Ph.D. thesis, the methodology for obtaining information and interacting with artists was analyzed and adapted, primarily through the artist interview, informal communications, and awareness talks. This article presents the follow-up results obtained through a recent survey and raises the possibility of a way of understanding preventive conservation as “active” by involving the awareness of artists and the benefits derived from it, not only for the conservation discipline but for the entire artistic community.

Note: This paper has been written in non-binary fluid gender.

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Author Biography

Ruth del Fresno-Guillem, Testimoniart Toronto, Canadá

Ruth del Fresno-Guillem, concienciadora y conservadora de arte contemporáneo en práctica independiente, vive en Toronto, Canada. Su trabajo está vinculado a colecciones privadas, proyectos de arte público y trabajo con artistas emergentes. Ha centrado su atención en la voz del artista, y es una defensora activa de la conservación con el propósito de crear conciencia entre lxs artistas emergentes y lxs profesionales del arte a través de presentaciones públicas y conferencias. le interesa especialmente la intencionalidad y establecer una conexión con el artista que le ayude a entender la idea de deterioro que preocupa a cada persona creadora en particular. En 2017 se doctoró en la Universitat Politècnica de València con una tesis centrada en el uso de la entrevista aplicada a un grupo de artistas emergentes para establecer protocolos de conservación preventiva. La entrevista fue también el eje de estudio en su TFM. En ese caso aplicada a tres artistas conceptuales catalanes y sus Performances. Colabora activamente con VoCA, Voices in Contemporary Art, con base en NY, para los que realizó la entrevista pública a la artista cubana Gladys Triana enero 2020. Como investigadora ha participado en diversos proyectos que involucran la entrevista al artista, la conservación de Performance Art y las aproximaciones éticas inclusivas del arte contemporáneo. Ha participado en conferencias sobre conservación de arte contemporáneo internacionales, como AIC (American Institute of Conservation) o Traverso 2021. U otros eventos que nada tienen que ver con conservación, como hizo para la feria de arte contemporáneo Urvanity el pasado Mayo o UAAC, en Canadá donde ha hecho visible la disciplina de conservación.
Es miembro del grupo de trabajo de Arte contemporáneo y de nuevos Medios del GE-IIC, TACG (Toronto Area Conservation Group) así como AIC, CAC (Canadian Art Conservation), INCCA. Ha creado una base de datos abierta en wwwruthdelfresno.com, bajo el nombre de Testimoniart, donde publica regularmente las entrevistas que realiza.

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Published
2021-12-17
How to Cite
del Fresno-Guillem, R. (2021). Active Preventive Conservation. The creation of strategies of prevention through direct work with the artists. Ge-Conservacion, 20(1), 389-406. https://doi.org/10.37558/gec.v20i1.1081
Issue
Vol. 20 (2021): Ge-conservación Nº20
Section
Suplemento
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