Indigo Nights wrote: > Again, I think the swabs would be incapable of being a > contaminant, but I am, by no means, an expert on the > matter. If I remember anything from my grade 10 biology class, I'm quite certain infectious disease transmitted through blood dies when oxidized. Of course, I'm no expert either. The reason why I'm replying to this post again is because looking at it a second time I'm feeling that the questions are not ones that can be answered without seeing the work, knowing its full list of materials, who made it and with what intention. For the sake of arguing that anything could possibly constitute art, my first question would be "what makes this work of art this an important contribution to society and is it something that fits into the mandate of our institution?" Since you mentioned that the piece was offered to you, is it something you would have sought to acquire on your own anyway or are you thinking of acquiring/exhibiting it just for the sake of the fact that its available? If it fits into your mandate and would be a worthy contribution, it almost seems like the fact that it could be hazardous is secondary. If the exhibition committee decides the piece has a profound place in the museum then I'd say that where there's a will, there's a way. I don't know what the National Gallery of Canada spoke behind closed doors concerning the infamous meat dress ("Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic") but they put it up because they felt there was a darned good reason for them too and we can only imagine what sorts of health risks were involved with that. How the work is exhibited depends on what it is -- is it an assemblage in the round or are the swabs mounted to a flat surface with only one intended viewing angle? In terms of conservation -- is the artist alive? He/She would be the best person to advise, typically. But maybe the piece is not intended to be something with a long shelf life (like the meat dress) and to preserve it past its artists' wishes would be to harm the integrity of the work. Still, it comes down to the fact that without knowing exactly what the work is, there's no way anyone can provide advice. I don't know how many others out there are curious to learn more, but I sure am! Good luck! - Milena -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Roeland Stulemeijer Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2002 5:14 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: contemporary artwork with blood swaps Recently somebody offered us a contemporary work of art that includes blood swaps. I am very hesitant in accepting this work as the swaps could come from a person with an infectious/contagious disease. How would you advise on accepting this artwork? If advised on accepting the work, how would one go about exhibiting this work to safeguard the public and the museum staff? Would someone be able to tell me how I could conserve this artwork from deterioration? ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).