Editorial

Abstract

This first issue of 2022 has contributions that evaluate cleaning and drying techniques for damp fragile archaeological textiles, develop a recent interventive technique for translucent paper, map histories of past interventions to understand the preservation of a colossal metal sculpture, execute forensic recuperation of obsolete proprietary software, and reflect on the dynamic interactions of collection items and diverse people. In the first contribution by Sjoukje Telleman et al., ‘The Texel textile find revisited: the testing of cleaning and drying processes for historical wet rags’, the authors trial a range of cleaning and drying techniques on samples of still damp, fragmentary and degraded silk textiles from a seventeenth-century shipwreck in the Netherlands. Cleaning with a fine, controlled stream of water produced the best results, but also the greatest loss of material, and freeze-drying resulted in more flexible and less distorted samples. The authors do not provide any definitive ‘best’ combination of treatments, rather they offer insight into the risks and advantages of each method. Chiara Petiti et al.’s ‘Learning from history: the case of the San Carlone colossus after the test of time’, plots the possible reasons why a huge seventeenth century copper-clad iron statue in Italy remains in good condition, especially given that galvanic corrosion might be expected. Various interventions over the last three centuries are detailed via the statue and its archive, complemented with analyses using XRF, FTIR, ultrasound and conductivity testing as well as XRD, SEM/EDX, μ-FTIR and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES), and from these the authors offer insights into its continued preservation. In the third article by Ute Henniges et al., ‘Microfibrillated cellulose films for mending translucent paper: an assessment of film preparation and treatment application options’, a recent method suggested for repairing tears in translucent papers is investigated. The authors produced custom-made microfibrillated cellulose films and compared their mechanical and optical properties as tear supports with commercially manufactured films and Japanese tissue. Accelerated ageing tests produced good visual results and their use on a collection item from the UK’s National Archives is detailed with the suggestion that bespoke films offer an acceptable and cost-effective technique for tear mends. AnnaMladentseva’s article, ‘Responding to obsolescence in Flash-based net art: a case study on migrating Sinae Kim’s Genesis’, submitted for the ‘Emerging Conservators’ special issue, is presented here as a seminal study in recouping works made in Adobe Flash which was discontinued in 2020. First released by Macromedia in 1996, Flash was extensively used for building immersive and interactive websites, video games, animation and art works, all now facing oblivion since its demise. Mladentseva interrogates recent emulationand virtualisation-based strategies for Flash before successfully executing an alternative method of migration on a work using reverse engineering techniques including decompilation. The final contribution by Megan Salas was also made for the recent special issue; here she details part of her UCLA/Getty MA conservation studies undertaken in collaboration with members of the Kumeyaay Journal of the Institute of Conservation, 2022 Vol. 45, No. 1, 1–2, https://doi.org/10.1080/19455224.2022.2028988