The topic of lighting is much discussed in the museum world. On the one hand, light is necessary for a work or an exhibited object to be experienced. On the other hand, it is known that light inevitably causes irreversible damage. The first visible effect of light damage appears as a color change.
When discussing color change, it is often the materials used for design, such as dyes or pigments. This project focuses on paper as the carrier of colors and as a designed medium, whose color change should not be underestimated.
The Micro-Fading Test (MFT) is an accelerated light aging test that can predict the color changes of materials caused by light. Thanks to a very intense light source (a xenon arc lamp), whose light is focused on a very limited area, it is possible to conduct measurements in a few minutes that correspond to several years of light exposure in museums and galleries.
The project is based at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project is led by Professor Irene Brückle. All project partners and the current development of the project can be found on the project blog of the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart at papercons.blog.
Certain work packages of the project are carried out at the Rathgen Research Laboratory. In these work packages, it will be analyzed whether the color change recorded by the MFT test is representative of the real color change occurring in paper. The color change values obtained with MFT will be compared with colorimetric data from other light aging techniques on paper samples. It will also be evaluated whether the color changes vary with lighting conditions or paper composition. Different lighting conditions and paper samples will be tested for this purpose.
Very light-sensitive materials respond well to the MFT test. However, paper is only moderately sensitive. To optimize the MFT technique for the investigation of paper, cooperation with the Technical University of Berlin - Faculty IV Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is undertaken to receive technical support and exchange experiences.
Project Lead: State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart
Cooperation Partners: Rathgen-Forschungslabor and Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden
Funding: DFG
Contacts at the Rathgen-Forschungslabor: Giulia Vannucci, Dr. Stefan Röhrs, Prof. Dr. Stefan Simon
Duration: April 2021 until March 2024