School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Research Publications
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ItemDegradation profiles of silk textiles in diverse environments: Synchrotron based infrared micro-spectroscopy analysis(Springer, 2017)In this paper, synchrotron based infrared micro-spectroscopy was utilized to describe the degradation profile of fibroin contained in silk textiles (Bombyx mori). The spatial distributions of deterioration effects in silk samples artificially aged at an assortment of conditions (thermal, hydrolytic and ultraviolet) were distinctly visualised and in accordance with the findings from conventional infrared spectroscopy in references. Further this method was applied on a historic sample from a private collection in Melbourne, and presented consistent results. This established synchrotron IR chemical mapping method could enable museum professionals to better understand the preservation state of historic silk and make informed decisions for conservation.
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ItemExploring the Outlands: A Case-Study on the Conservation Installation and Artist Interview of David Haines’ and Joyce Hinterding’s Time-Based Art Installation(Taylor and Francis Group, 2021)The artwork by David Haines and Joyce Hinterding, The outlands, 2011 is a time-based art installation composed of sculptural, software and gaming technology exhibited in a gallery space. The work was acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales after being awarded the 2011 Anne Landa Award Unguided Tours exhibition prize but has not been installed since. As such, any future iterations will be challenging due to its condition, functionality and machine dependency. This paper explores the value of installing Haines’ and Hinterding’s time-based art installation to chart the conservation assessment processes of documentation, functionality testing and the install itself. It discusses how in-situ artist interview affords artistic agency and contributes knowledge on the materials, conceptual and technical elements of the work, functional limitations and its future conservation management. The outcomes of the conservation interactions have allowed for a deeper understanding of conservation as a reiterative process as issues of software and hardware dependencies, and the situated and spatial relationships between various elements became more salient. This has assisted conservators in preparing for object obsolescence and aims to support future re-activations of The outlands, 2011.
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ItemBronzino's portrait of Cosimo I de'Medici in armour re-examined(Burlington Magazine Publications, 2023-01)Technical analysis by the Art Gallery of New South Wales of its portrait by Bronzino of Cosimo I de’ Medici in armour has revealed more details of the mysterious underlying portrait first observed in a X-radiograph in the 1980s. It has also established that Bronzino hesitated between making the portrait half-length or three-quarter-length, confirming that the painting is the prime autograph version of the three-quarter-length image.
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ItemLaw and Order Under La Trobe: The First Prisons of Port Phillip(The La Trobe Society, 2023)
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ItemCultural responses to the migration of the barn swallow in Europe(ANU Press, 2019-05-09)This paper investigates the place of barn swallows in European folklore and science from the Bronze Age to the nineteenth century. It takes the swallow’s natural migratory patterns as a starting point, and investigates how different cultural groups across this period have responded to the bird’s departure in autumn and its subsequent return every spring. While my analysis is focused on classical European texts, including scientifc and theological writings, I have also considered the swallow’s representation in art. The aim of this article is to build a longue durée account of how beliefs about the swallow have evolved over time, even as the bird’s migratory patterns have remained the same. As I argue, the influence of classical texts on medieval and Renaissance thought in Europe allows us to consider a temporal progression (and sometimes regression) in the way barn swallow migration was explained and understood.
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ItemTracing Breton footprints from Fleury to Reims: the codicological evidence for the exegetical compilation in Orléans 182 and Reims 395(CNRS Éditions, 2023)The focus of this article is a compilation of biblical exegesis, here entitled Glossae Floriacenses in Vetus et Nouum Testamentum, that ranges from short explanatory glosses to more extensive passages of interpretation, and also incorporates two independent works in their entirety: Adrevald of Fleury’s De benedictionibus patriarcharum and the Venerable Bede’s Nomina regionum atque locorum de Actibus apostolorum. The Glossae Floriacenses also preserve multiple layers of Old Breton glosses (main text, interlinear, marginal additions), as well as several Old English glosses. This dynamic work survives in two codices, Orléans, Médiathèque, MS 183, and Reims, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 395. The methodology employed here involves a detailed survey of these codicological contexts in order to expand our understanding of the transmission and use of the Glossae Floriacenses. In the case of Orléans 182, there is strong evidence for Fleury as the provenance of the codex as a whole, but this analysis also evidences substantial interactions with nearby regions, particularly Brittany and Auxerre. In the case of Reims 395, several manuscript in the codex date to the eleventh century, and include the Glossae Floriacenses, Odo of Cluny’s Sermo de sancto Benedicto, and a range of works dedicated to the celebration of Mary Magdalene. This grouping indicates links of transmission between a number of Loire Valley and Burgundy regions, particularly Brittany, Fleury, Cluny, Auxerre, and Vézelay.
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ItemSearching for the potters behind the pots: re-examining the Tell Ahmar Neo-Assyrian ceramic assemblage(The Australian Institute of Archaeology, 2023)Ceramic studies have been crucial to the development of archaeology. This paper is concerned with a re-examination of the pottery, and the potters, of Tell Ahmar (ancient Til Barsib), Syria. It focuses on the ceramics from the Australian excavations in the Middle City (Area C), especially the more than 250,000 items from the 7th-century BCE Neo-Assyrian Stratum 2. The Stratum 2 assemblage was readily grouped into seventeen ware types. The various wares reflect different production systems: some hand-made products were manufactured locally, possibly by individual households; other wares, characterised by high rates of uniformity, were probably produced by large-scale, centralised pottery industries; another ware group exhibits considerable investment in the application of different surface treatments, indicating specific uses. The Area C assemblage provides a rare opportunity to examine a large and relatively complete well-dated corpus. Observations and explanations relating to the technology of preparing, forming, decorating, and firing these ceramic vessels casts light on the circumstances of their manufacture and, in turn, on the potters behind the pots of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSaint Catherine and the Clock: Possible Histories of Sound and Time in Fourteenth-and Fifteenth-Century France(University of Chicago Press, 2023-10-01)
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ItemThe potential role of citizen conservation in re-shaping approaches to murals in an urban context(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2016)Public visual spaces, populated by a blend of community murals, unauthorised street art, and historic painted mercantile signs, are often the mark of an urban environment that is both progressive and eclectic. Changes in the aesthetic and cultural value of these urban mural forms have led to an increase in the appreciation and, in some instances, promotion of their artistic merit and cultural significance as examples of public art. However, examining the significance of these works, with a view to implementing a conservation approach is problematic. This is due to a number of practical and theoretical considerations that are primarily a result of the ephemeral existence of urban murals outside conventional exhibition spaces, and issues associated with their often fragmented ownership and uncertain authorship. Consequently, larger thinking on the interpretation, conservation assessment, and advocacy for the conservation of urban murals are required. Key to defining and implementing such strategies is contextualising the public visual spaces that these murals occupy and, as part of this, the local and wider communities’ perception of these murals as culturally significant objects as well as fostering awareness and understanding of appropriate measures aimed at their conservation. This paper examines the role of citizen science, or crowd-sourcing, of local community members in establishing a conservation dialogue and generating conservation- relevant data on urban murals. It looks specifically at a project involving a collection of in situ historic painted mercantile signs — also known as ghost signs — in the City of Port Phillip, Melbourne, Australia. The project fostered the establishment of an informed and open dialogue between conservation specialists and participants from the local community on the significance of local ghost signs whilst transferring knowledge on conservation processes and assessment methods. Working directly with community members, a programme was designed in which conservation and community knowledge of these urban art forms, could be collected and exchanged across digital platforms. This enabled researchers to examine how citizen science can be utilised as a research tool as well as a means to advocate for the conservation of collections of urban murals. It created the opportunity to consider the role of non-specialists and shared authorities in the collection and collation of conservation- relevant data and how information generated from what we call citizen conservation projects, can inform the way in which conservators evaluate and prioritize the conservation of urban cultural heritage. The data gathered and interpreted proved to be the most effective means of ‘conserving’ these often ephemeral forms of cultural material.
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ItemInterviewing artists exhibited in The Field (1968): The use of acrylic paints in a seminal exhibition of Australian colour field painting(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2016-01-01)Artist's interviews are a timely and important historical record of the technical significance of Australian colour field painting. The findings correlate and corroborate ongoing conservation research into the works featured in The Field, providing evidence to support the take-up and distribution of early acrylic paints in Australia. Overall, the artists' responses demonstrate a range of working methods and choice of materials. Col Jordan and Alun Leach-Jones were found to be fairly consistent with their choice of acrylic brands and technique, while other artists, like Ron Robertson-Swann, were more flexible and experimental in their approach. PVAC (polyvinyl acetate) paints were used along with, or in place of, acrylic emulsion paints for practical and economic reasons, revealing the challenges involved with investigating acrylic paints which emerged alongside a variety of other synthetic paints. These interviews reinforce the value of conservation enquiry to the field of art history and exhibition development.