Conservation of Urban Art
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CONSERVATION OF URBAN ART COATINGS AND GREEN CLEANING METHODS FOR VANDALIZED URBAN ART MURALS IN ITALY AND PORTUGAL Dissertation presented to Universidade Católica Portuguesa to obtain the degree of Master in Conservation and Restoration in Cultural Heritage Margarida Santos Jesus de Castro Porto | 2020 CONSERVATION OF URBAN ART COATINGS AND GREEN CLEANING METHODS FOR VANDALIZED URBAN ART MURALS IN ITALY AND PORTUGAL Dissertation presented to Universidade Católica Portuguesa to obtain the degree of Master in Conservation and Restoration in Cultural Heritage Integrated Heritage Margarida Santos Jesus de Castro Dissertation under the supervision of Doctor Patrícia Moreira And co-supervision of Doctor Eduarda Vieira Doctor Andrea Macchia Porto | 2020 To my grandmother, my mother, my father and my sister. i ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Certain people, to whom I would like to address a few words of gratitude, that were so important in carrying out this dissertation. To my supervisor, Professor Patrícia Moreira, and co-supervisors, Professor Eduarda Vieira and Professor Andrea Macchia for their continuous and incessant support, for the enormous availability and knowledge sharing shared throughout this research. To the Università Sapienza di Roma and the YOCOCU entity, especially to Laura Rivaroli, for the warm welcome in Rome and sharing of knowledge essential to this study. To the Mariano Davoli of Università della Calabria and to Daniela Ferro of Museo delle Cività in Rome for the material characterization carried out in the research. To my colleagues and friends who have accompanied and motivated me throughout my academic career. Special thanks are given to my family, Isabel, Nelson and Catarina for encouraging me to proceed with my interests, supporting me in the most difficult situations and for employing me, providing me funding I needed to this research. To my friend and life companion, Mário, for his patience, emotional support and for giving me strengths when I thought everything was crumbling and for encouraging me to continue. iii iv ABSTRACT This research focuses on methodologies for intervention in urban art murals made with aerosol paints. The dissertation is divided into two blocks of research that complement each other based on the YOCOCU’s mural art conservation experience. The first block reports the research on protective coatings, in order to prevent the action of vandalism in aerosol inks, such as the accelerated deterioration of the original constituents in a mural work. Coatings selected for tests were those usually used for built heritage and considered anti-graffiti. To evaluate the performance of these coatings on various paints, analytical tests such as OM, SEM/EDS and colorimetric analyses have been performed. SEM/EDS and OM results showed that vandalized inks with coatings didn’t penetrate into the chromatic layers or were altered with the vandalism simulation. Colorimetric values registration in paints with coatings over four months however shows alterations in all of the selected paints. The second block focuses on solutions for cleaning murals that have been subjected to vandalism. A green methodology was tested where combinations of solvents of low toxicity were chosen. These were selected under the criteria of being not harmful to the artwork, the operator and the environment. The mixtures tested were designed under the J.P. Teas system, with control of the forces of dispersion (fd), polar (fp) and hydrogen (fh), to help define the best method of intervention in the removal of vandalism without damaging the underlying chromatic layers. Results have shown that several solvent mixtures are needed, for specific scenarios depending on the thickness of the vandalic layer, binder of the ink and the operator control. The best protective coating and solutions were selected within various commercial paints and applied in a case study of an artwork in Porto. “Virtus”, a mural by Hazul was selected for case study. This work presented several pathologies, related with the use of spray paint, vandalism, stickers, permanent marker and a burnt area. It also presented other pathologies of physical and biological origin, therefore an intervention was carried out, aiming the stability and the aesthetic integrity of the artwork, while electing green cleaning methodologies and strategies. Keywords: mural art, aerosol ink, green solvents, coatings, vandalism, Hazul, Porto. v vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................................................. III ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................................... V LIST OF ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................................... IX LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................................. X LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................ XIV INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER I HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC CONTEXTUALISATION OF URBAN ART MURALS ........................... 3 1.1. DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS AND HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF URBAN ART .................................................... 5 1.1.1. Definition of Graffiti, Street Art and Urban Art concepts. ...............................................................................5 1.1.2. Historical Evolution of Underground Culture ...................................................................................................8 1.2. BRIEF HISTORY OF URBAN ART MURALS IN PORTUGAL ............................................................................... 14 1.3. BRIEF HISTORY OF URBAN ART MURALS IN ITALY....................................................................................... 18 1.4. ISSUES IN THE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION OF URBAN ART MURALS ............................................... 21 CHAPTER II MORPHOLOGICAL AND TECHNICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS ............................ 25 2.1. SELECTION OF MATERIALS AND ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES ........................................................................ 27 2.1.1. Materials .............................................................................................................................................................. 28 2.1.2. Analytical Techniques ........................................................................................................................................ 30 2.2. METHODOLOGY PROCEDURES .................................................................................................................... 31 2.2.1. Preparation of specimens ................................................................................................................................... 31 2.2.3. Protective coatings tests ..................................................................................................................................... 33 2.2.3.1. Colorimetric analysis ................................................................................................................................. 35 2.2.3.2. Collection and preparation of stratigraphic samples .................................................................................. 36 2.2.3.3. Optical microscopy .................................................................................................................................... 37 2.2.3.4. Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM/EDS) ................................. 37 2.2.4. Chemical cleaning tests ...................................................................................................................................... 38 2.2.4.1. Green products selection ........................................................................................................................... 38 2.2.4.2. Solvent blends selection ............................................................................................................................ 39 2.3. RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................................... 43 2.3.1. Protective coatings .............................................................................................................................................. 43 2.3.2. Chemical cleanings ............................................................................................................................................. 47 vii CHAPTER III CONSERVATION OF MURAL PAINTING “VIRTUS” BY HAZUL .......................................................... 51 3.1. MURAL WORK IDENTIFICATION .................................................................................................................. 53 3.1.1. Short history of Escola Artística e Profissional Árvore .................................................................................. 53 3.1.2. The Artist ...........................................................................................................................................................