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Lighting the art room?
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44 posts in this topic

On 11/24/2020 at 6:11 PM, stinkininkin said:

Not to challenge you, but why the comment about flux's in temperature? Do you have information that confirms that big temperature swings are damaging to paper and materials? I ask because I had this exact question for my restorer (Gordan Christman, one of the better respected comic art restorers), and he couldn't give me any definitive opinion if temperature plays any part in damaging art (unlike direct light, which we ALL agree can be harmful to art, and especially color art using dyes, markers, and other pigments). If you know something about temperature, I'd love to hear about it, as I have art that is sometimes exposed to wider than normal temperature swings.

 

I would assume temperature change would effect the relative humidity near the art and could cause expansion and contraction of the fibers in the paper. That adjustment could in theory lead to discoloration/integrity loss as components are broken down on a mechanical and chemical level. This would only be an issue If the degree change was pretty great, but an exterior wall by a window might experience that.

I found this on the subject. 
https://cool.culturalheritage.org/byauth/maravilla/deterioration-causes.html

 

Edited by zhamlau
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FWIW, I've installed flush mount LED lights. The part that clips to the sheet rock is very thin. Above it and connected by an electrical cord is the box that has the controls and transformer. There are 3 light settings on that box (3000, 4000, 5000 lumens). We set it for the middle, but that might change.

We like them a lot.
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_76c0.jpg.6ed838bdc2db6c0a2a52badd951164de.jpg

I can get the brand name if you want it.

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17 minutes ago, alxjhnsn said:

FWIW, I've installed flush mount LED lights. The part that clips to the sheet rock is very thin. Above it and connected by an electrical cord is the box that has the controls and transformer. There are 3 light settings on that box (3000, 4000, 5000 lumens). We set it for the middle, but that might change.

We like them a lot.
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_76c0.jpg.6ed838bdc2db6c0a2a52badd951164de.jpg

I can get the brand name if you want it.

Thanks Alex, please do

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9 hours ago, ESeffinga said:

Humidity is more likely the bigger problem, vs outright temperature, but temperature swings can be an issue depending ron the environment. Paper is made from wood pulp, which of course makes it susceptible to humidity levels that can result in paper waviness, etc.

Temperature swings can also effect the humidity within the paper, but also other things can potentially happen to OA. Expansion/contraction can potentially effect adhesives and mediums used on a page differently than the paper itself. So paper can theoretically spread or shrink at a different rate than things like adhesives for bubbles or pasteups, or halftone screens like zipatone, or paints like gouache or correction mediums like whiteout.

Are any of these things guaranteed to happen? Nah. Are any of them likely? It genuinely just depends on environment and storage methods. Temps and long term nature of the storage.

There is a reason why museums store things in a “cool dry place” using the methods they do.

Sticking a portfolio with text bubbles and copious amounts of zip or whiteout in the attic would probably be ill-advised. Especially for any length of time. And certainly would never do that.

Leaving your portfolio in the car during a long weekend con, you are probably fine. 
 

The generally accepted rule of thumb is that paper, like wood, is generally happy in environments that are comfortable for people. 30-55% humidity. Upper 60s to mid 70s being the ideal. Too high or too low humidity. Too wide of a temp swing and things can happen. But like I say above, it will vary on so many factors it becomes difficult to state to exactly what degree.

I can say, I have 2 pages that hang inside my house on an exterior wall that gets no sun internally. They’ve been there for 20 years now. I had to fix the acid free hinges on both the last 2 years, as they started to slip on their respective frames. I imagine 20 years worth of summers and winters could very well be the culprit, as other pieces in the house of the same time period have shown none of those tendencies.

I have a temperature gun, and I can tell you the wall does have a good 15 degree swing depending on time of the year, even though the general temp in the house is a constant. But no way to empirically prove what is little more than an anecdote. I do know that constant swings in temp shift can play havoc with paper. Not unlike UV, it can contribute to brittleness, etc. I think the goal is to provide as constant an environment as possible. Quick extreme shifts are going to be worse than really slow gradual ones.

I have one large oil painting on an “exterior” wall. I monitor it yearly for any signs of issues. The big one being temp sifts eventually causing the oil paint to crack from expansion/contraction. This happens to almost all oil paintings eventually (visit any art museum) but it can be mitigated with careful control And monitoring. I take the big piece down every time the temps get really high in summer for a stretch, or really cold in winter. My unscientific method is to stick my hand on the wall. If I feel a significant difference between an interior wall and an exterior one is when I jump through the hoops.

Of course the easy way to avoid this is to never hang on exterior walls. But if the interior walls largely face windows, it can severely limit what can go where. I prefer to be active and cautious within reason. I’ve not had any major issues arise in almost 3 decades. Knock on wood.

I’m not an art conservator, but as a long time collector, and guitar collector, and a wife that did a lot of art conservation and framing for a number of years, I’ve picked up a lot, read a lot and paid pretty close attention to the topic.


 

Good information here. All seems to ring true to me. Gracias!

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On 11/26/2020 at 3:51 AM, ESeffinga said:

Regarding lighting, I switched every bulb 💡 in our house (other than the bathrooms) over to 4000k led bulbs a couple years ago. The LED market finally got to a color temp and lumen count that hit a sweet spot for me, coupled with a quality and aesthetics that I was finally happy with with.

Sorry for the essay. Hope someone got something out of it. I get as excited my this stuff as talking Heritage, or favorite documentaries. Hahaha. 

Solid work on this, and you citing a ton of things I was going to.

Firstly, Dave, congrats on the up and coming house! We moved into our new home a little over a month ago, and sadly all of my framed art is still unhung. I'm still trying to suss out where i want things, as I generally don't have a dedicated space for my art. It's all just sprinkled through-out the house.

One of the best things you can do is to use LEDs for EVERYTHING. They'll save you money in the long run, and if you have valuables of all sorts to protect against UV, then this should def. be your first step.

Unlike ESeffinga, I bought into a whole entire Phillips Hue eco-system and i've got most of my lights running on set schedules, including rooms that aren't occupied, I kind of like having a little light on in those rooms. Personally, i think it makes the house feel warming. But, we're going off course.

I was going to add some stuff, but I went through what ESeffinga wrote, and they pretty much checked off everything I was going to mention.

Again, congrats!

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18 minutes ago, aqn83 said:

Solid work on this, and you citing a ton of things I was going to.

Firstly, Dave, congrats on the up and coming house! We moved into our new home a little over a month ago, and sadly all of my framed art is still unhung. I'm still trying to suss out where i want things, as I generally don't have a dedicated space for my art. It's all just sprinkled through-out the house.

One of the best things you can do is to use LEDs for EVERYTHING. They'll save you money in the long run, and if you have valuables of all sorts to protect against UV, then this should def. be your first step.

Unlike ESeffinga, I bought into a whole entire Phillips Hue eco-system and i've got most of my lights running on set schedules, including rooms that aren't occupied, I kind of like having a little light on in those rooms. Personally, i think it makes the house feel warming. But, we're going off course.

I was going to add some stuff, but I went through what ESeffinga wrote, and they pretty much checked off everything I was going to mention.

Again, congrats!

Thanks and congrats to you as well!

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On 11/23/2020 at 2:47 PM, JadeGiant said:

No sunlight - check

Humidity control - check

Lighting - figuring out currently

I'd check to see what museums do or recommend. I've got art hanging in the home office, all museum quality archival materials. The light is a fixture in the middle of the room and it can cast a bit so flattering reflection so placement of lights is just as critical... Just a thought

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On 11/24/2020 at 4:11 PM, stinkininkin said:

Not to challenge you, but why the comment about flux's in temperature? Do you have information that confirms that big temperature swings are damaging to paper and materials? I ask because I had this exact question for my restorer (Gordan Christman, one of the better respected comic art restorers), and he couldn't give me any definitive opinion if temperature plays any part in damaging art (unlike direct light, which we ALL agree can be harmful to art, and especially color art using dyes, markers, and other pigments). If you know something about temperature, I'd love to hear about it, as I have art that is sometimes exposed to wider than normal temperature swings.

 

stable temperature is good, wide fluctuations is not good.  For most people who have a home kept within a 10-15 degree range, nothing to be concerned about.  If you keep stuff in a shed and it goes from 10 in winter to 100 in summer.  Not good.  

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