Technicians and specialists, known more generally as art handlers or preparators, play a central role in the visitor experience of the Art Institute’s collections. Though most of our work is performed out of sight of the public, behind screens or in closed galleries, you may occasionally spot us moving through the galleries pushing carts laden with artwork. In addition to the installation of artworks, we are also responsible for the care of our collections when they are off-view and for the preparation of artworks for both storage and display. This involves careful planning so we can avoid surprises while handling the actual artworks.
Our golden rule was recently put to the test when we had to move a large architectural model of the Pavilion for Japanese Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which has been lent to us by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) for the exhibition Bruce Goff: Material Worlds.
Installation view of the model in the Art Institute exhibition Bruce Goff: Material Worlds
Architectural models are not typically constructed to last. They are purpose built, usually for presentation to a client or sometimes as a means to work through an idea. The materials are rarely archival, and certainly not structural: paper, Styrofoam, balsawood, and plant matter are commonly used. This makes them especially prone to damage in transit. Goff’s model had the added complication of being a large and wide object; it measured over seven feet in each direction, and the crate that it travels in added another foot in each dimension.
model in crate
Preparing to remove the model from the crate
Bruce Goff: Material Worlds is the first exhibition in the museum’s new Regenstein Hall. While the new special exhibition space has many advantages, it lacks an adjacent loading dock that would allow large crates to come directly off the truck and into the gallery for unpacking. So we needed to explore new ways to travel from the Modern Wing dock—which is on the opposite side of the museum—through various galleries with different size restrictions, some fixed artworks, and tight corners.
To help prepare for the move, my colleague Kevin McGrath in Art Packing and Logistics (APL) produced a cardboard maquette—a mock up—to the dimensions of the model’s crate, which allowed us to walk the possible pathways and test out various methods for transporting the object. Through these walkthroughs, which included project managers, registrars, conservators, and art handlers, we were able to rule out a number of pathway options.
Ideally, the model would stay in its crate until it reached the exhibition hall. However, the crate itself weighs hundreds of pounds, and getting it down the stairs would potentially require complex mechanical rigging using outside contractors. (Yes, there were now stairs to navigate.) To allow the model to be moved without its crate, Kevin also designed an aluminum tray that would provide extra rigidity to the model during transit through the museum. It also protected the edges of the model and had handles. Luckily, the model itself was relatively lightweight and could be hand carried in the tray when necessary.
The model in the carrying tray fabricated by Chicago Fine Art Solutions.
While it is never advisable to move or handle an artwork outside of its display orientation—in this case, flat—we had no choice with our new route. So Kevin modified an A-frame cart that would secure the model in its aluminum tray at the angle needed to clear the narrow doorway and tight corners. While not ideal, the angled portion of the transit was just the last quarter of our pathway. For the rest of the route, the model would travel flat on a rolling table.
Now that we had a plan, we still needed the lender to agree to it. We hopped on a call with constituents from LACMA, including a conservator and a registrar, and presented each step of the proposed pathway and all the necessary equipment. Thankfully, they well understood the challenges of the large model and agreed to our proposal. Since the model is inherently fragile, they had already planned to send their conservator as a courier, just in case any small repairs were necessary once the artwork was installed.
Even with all this planning, once the artwork arrived at the museum with the courier we did one final walkthrough with all our equipment—a dress rehearsal, if you will. This allowed the courier to see each of the complex transitions, such as the stairs, and allowed all the art handlers involved to feel comfortable and confident in the movement.
Rehearsing without the model
With that done, we finally unpacked the model, loaded it into our carrying tray, and set off across the museum.
There were two sets of stairs. We used two large rolling tables, so that when we hand carried the model up and down the stairs, we would have a place to land without waiting for the table.
At this point we placed the model on the modified cart to wheel it through the narrow galleries and doorways.
Once through those galleries, we placed it back on the cart. The actual move of the model took less than 30 minutes, from crate to gallery, and went off without a hitch.
So when you see works like Goff’s model for the Japanese Pavilion in Material Worlds, resting easily on its platform, remember that months and months of planning, including meetings, walkthroughs, maquettes, more meetings, and more walkthroughs, went into getting it there.
Goff’s Pavilion for Japanese Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, at home in the exhibition Bruce Goff: Material Worlds.
The goal is not only to handle the artwork as little as possible, but for it to appear in the gallery as if it had always been there.
Bruce Goff: Material Worlds closes March 29. Deinstallation begins the following day, when we’ll do all the same moves again—just in reverse.
—Thomas Huston, specialist, Architecture and Design
