The Wayward Paper Object: Artist's Intent, Technical Analysis, and Treatment of a 1966 Robert Rauschenberg Diptych

Abstract

Conservators usually consider pressure-sensitive tapes to be unwanted additions to works of art. Yet when regarded as components of an artwork, these heretofore quotidian “Band-Aids” can provide an unusual treatment challenge, that is, to preserve the “postmodern artifact.” This article discusses artistic intent and the conservation of pressure-sensitive tapes in fine art. A mixed-media diptych by Robert Rauschenberg dating from the mid-1960s features a paper magazine clipping adhered to a primed canvas support with strips of transparent pressure- sensitive tape. Prior to treatment, the tape's rubber-based adhesive was discolored and failing, its carrier was noticeably brittle and misshapen, and the tape-and-paper assembly was detaching from the primed canvas, compromising both its safety and the integrity of the diptych. Examination and treatment of the work were performed at the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. The artist and his staff were consulted in his New York City studio-offices in November 1993. The transparent tape carrier was determined by pyrolysisgas chromatography to be cellophane—a film material formed of regenerated cellulose—and treatment protocols were developed. Mock-ups were prepared to aid in selection of the appropriate adhesive system for the reattachment of the aged tape to the original primed canvas support. This article reports the outcome of the treatment as guided by the wishes of the artist and the results of the study.