Field Trip to the Getty Center

For the past X years, H has taken his students for a behind-the-scenes tour at the Getty Conservation Institute at the Getty Center. This year my schedule was clear, so I took up the invitation to join the students, as well as some alums on this private tour yesterday.

First we learned about some past projects that the Institute has been involved with, including ancient cave paintings in China, a recently re-revealed mural on Olvera Street, and mosaic on a cathedral in Prague (just three examples of hundreds).

Here are some pigments used in paintings

Then we toured some of the labs and learned about different scientific methods used in conservation research.

Here is a painting which imitates Jackson Pollack's work so they can see how the paint splatters, depending upon the method (dripping or flicking, for example).

This little experiment show different stages of what happens when sodium sulfate in limestone leads to the deterioration of the limestone. We watched a time-lapse video of the process, and it can all disintegrate within just 30 days.