Starting from John Ruskin’s thought on the most superficial part of the matter (half inch of matter), the evolution of conservation theories is analyzed through a brief exursus. In 1866, Ruskin wrote the booklet The Ethics of the Dust, in which he collects a series of thoughts on time that leaves indelible marks on surfaces, giving them an enchanted and mysterious aura. The inheritance of Ruskin is collected by the artist Jorge Otero-Pailos, who sets himself the goal of detecting from surfaces the specificities of the air, in different places and at different times, to compose a “pollution archive”. The surfaces are cleaned with a layer of adhesive latex, removing centuries of dust, a sort of mark left by the climatic and atmospheric conditions, by maintenance practices, even by the chemical materials already used in previous restorations. This connects to the age-old question of cleaning and replacing of “The stones of Venice” and tries to mediate the different positions that have marked the history of restoration. On the one hand, the strategy wants to preserve the authentic information that is linked to the dust and pollution and on the other, cleans to ensure the correctness of the operation. Therefore, it’s faithful to the Ruskinian tradition, according to which it’s the age to glorify buildings, as the walls are characterized by the “history of men”.

L’etica della polvere ossia la conservazione della materia fra antiche e nuove istanze

Enrica Petrucci;
2019-01-01

Abstract

Starting from John Ruskin’s thought on the most superficial part of the matter (half inch of matter), the evolution of conservation theories is analyzed through a brief exursus. In 1866, Ruskin wrote the booklet The Ethics of the Dust, in which he collects a series of thoughts on time that leaves indelible marks on surfaces, giving them an enchanted and mysterious aura. The inheritance of Ruskin is collected by the artist Jorge Otero-Pailos, who sets himself the goal of detecting from surfaces the specificities of the air, in different places and at different times, to compose a “pollution archive”. The surfaces are cleaned with a layer of adhesive latex, removing centuries of dust, a sort of mark left by the climatic and atmospheric conditions, by maintenance practices, even by the chemical materials already used in previous restorations. This connects to the age-old question of cleaning and replacing of “The stones of Venice” and tries to mediate the different positions that have marked the history of restoration. On the one hand, the strategy wants to preserve the authentic information that is linked to the dust and pollution and on the other, cleans to ensure the correctness of the operation. Therefore, it’s faithful to the Ruskinian tradition, according to which it’s the age to glorify buildings, as the walls are characterized by the “history of men”.
2019
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11581/430820
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