Stanley Landsman sculpture

Robert Siegler <rsieger [at] sbcglobal__net> writes

>I am participating in the conservation of a Stanley Landsman
>sculpture from the mid-1960's, titled 'The Infinity Room', that is
>in the collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum.  The sculpture
>consists of seventeen five-sided plywood boxes with their interiors
>completely covered with glass mirror.
>
>During past transport and storage, several of the mirrors were
>broken and must be replaced. ...
>
>I am now looking for an adhesive to adhere the new mirrors.  It
>needs to be strong, since some of the mirrors will be over the
>viewer's heads, it must not bleed through the silvering, and it must
>be reversible.

I have been using DuPont construction adhesive--the kind that comes
in caulking tubes--for years, to adhere bracing strips to the rear
of panels and in other applications.  The products have been
improved recently, and should work well in your project.

One application has been in a terrible environment for the last
fifteen years and shows no sign of failure or change:  A 1 m x 2 m
mirror adhered to a bathroom wall.  The environment is humid and by
turns hot and cold.  There are no signs that the silvering has been
affected.

These products are ubiquitous and most easily found at a big box
home improvement store--Home Depot, and so on.  Labels regarding
ingredients are informative, and warn the user to wear respiratory
protection in enclosed spaces.

Mark D. Gottsegen
Chair, ASTM D01.57, Artists' Materials
Materials Research Director, ICA
Co-Director, AMIEN
336-707-3647


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:12
                 Distributed: Wednesday, June 20, 2007
                       Message Id: cdl-21-12-003
                                  ***