Climate change can affect temperature and humidity. And those changes can
damage art.
(Photo source: Aude at Wikimedia Commons)
Preservationists are worried climate
change could destroy valuable art
and cultural artifacts. Kyle Norris
reports thay are looking at ways to
protect these valuables:
Transcript
Preservationists are worried climate
change could destroy valuable art
and cultural artifacts. Kyle Norris
reports thay are looking at ways to
protect these valuables:
Climate change can affect temperature and humidity. And those changes can
damage art. Debbie Norris is the chair of the art conservation department
at the University of Delaware.
“Fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity can cause art
materials to crack and craze and deteriorate over time.”
Changes in the weather can also cause biological growth on artifacts. So,
for example, mold can grow on old photos or damage historic documents.
Some buildings that house art are very old and made of stone or wood.
Those building materials are deteriorating faster than they have in the
past. And many of those buildings are not equipped with heating and
cooling equipment advanced enough to control the climate inside the
buildings. That puts the collections they house at risk.
New York fashion designer Issac Mizrahi during a fitting session. Mizrahi used salmon leather to create an ensemble that includes a dress, jacket and shoes. (Photo by Mackenzie Stroh, courtesy of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum)
New York fashion designer Issac Mizrahi used salmon leather to create a dress, jacket and shoes. (Photo by Mackenzie Stroh, courtesy of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum)
Fishermen catch salmon in southwest Alaska. (Photo by Ami Vitale, courtesy of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum)
You might not have heard of the design firm Pentagram, but more than likely you’ve seen
its work. Pentagram designed the shopping bags for Saks Fifth Avenue, the logo for
Citibank, the layout of the New York Times Magazine. In short, its designers make
things look pretty. Recently, Pentagram got a call from the nonprofit Nature
Conservancy. As Hammad Ahmed reports, it wasn’t the usual request for a nice new logo
or packaging:
Transcript
You might not have heard of the design firm Pentagram, but more than likely you’ve seen
its work. Pentagram designed the shopping bags for Saks Fifth Avenue, the logo for
Citibank, the layout of the New York Times Magazine. In short, its designers make
things look pretty. Recently, Pentagram got a call from the nonprofit Nature
Conservancy. As Hammad Ahmed reports, it wasn’t the usual request for a nice new logo
or packaging:
The Nature Conservancy wanted Pentagram to issue a challenge to big name designers.
And the challenge was this: design environmentally friendly stuff. In other words, you
have to use renewable, abundant, and natural materials… instead of plastic.
Pentagram stepped up the challenge, recruited some designers, and, now, I’m here to see
what they came up with.
Curator Abbott Miller and I are standing at the Smithsonian Design museum in
Manhattan.
“The exhibition actually goes, um, this way.”
The exhibition is called “Design for a Living World.” And honestly, it looks like a
Pottery Barn. Bowls, chairs, and rugs. When you look closely though, you see all this
stuff is made from really interesting materials. For example, salmon leather.
Miller: “Salmon leather is stripped away from salmon in the process of canning and
literally was considered waste, but is actually an incredible material.”
Ahmed: “So this is just like salmon scales?”
Miller: “It’s the skin of salmon that’s been preserved.”
Working with the preserved salmon skin fell upon big-name fashion designer Isaac
Mizrahi, who’s more used to designing with silk and satin.
“If you’re weighing like sort of you know ecology and glamour, I think they weigh the
same to me, sorry to say that.”
Ecology or glamour, huh? Well, Mizrahi took this salmon leather and he turned it into a
dazzling pair of high heels you’d expect to see on the red carpet.
“For some people, that kind of product, represents a negative.”
Gary Bamossy is a marketing professor at Georgetown’s Business School.
“These very expensive green items that are really just sort of ‘fashionista’ kinds of
acquisitions, they see that as frivolous and maybe even as a waste of money.”
So, not exactly a ‘green ethic.’
And this makes me wonder which way of being green is better. Buying more shoes made
from salmon leather? Or not buying more shoes at all?
Abbott Miller admits it’s a valid question.
“That whole question of should we buy less, I think the answer is probably yes. You
know everyone knows that we’re an over-consuming culture.”
So if the real problem is over-consumption, what’s the point of green design?
When I ask Gary Bambossy, the marketing professor, he comes back with another
question.
“Green design as it relates to museum and as fashion? Or green design as part of a
business model process?”
And that question makes me realize green design isn’t just a new look for the same
products. It’s a new way of making those products, and educating the consumer.
Abbott Miller says we really ought to know more about what we buy, what is used to
make it.
“We may come to a point of such hyperawareness of the materials that we use that that’s
part of the story of why you buy something.”
Miller and Bambossy agree that buyers increasingly want to know more. And that could
lead to products being more sustainable.
But, the thing is, all this awareness isn’t free. So, you’re left with one last question: are
you willing to pay more for knowing more about the things you buy?
A $4-million dollar Insectarium is under construction at the St. Louis Zoo. It will be among the large such facilities in the nation. (Photo courtesy of St. Louis Zoo)
A geodesic dome will be home to butterflies, moths, and other flying insects. Visitors will be able to walk among them. (Photo courtesy of St. Louis Zoo)
Going to the zoo means seeing lions and tigers and bears. But one group
of animals is rarely represented. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Lester Graham reports on a new exhibit to house some of the planet’s
most populous animals insects:
Climate change can affect temperature and humidity. And those changes can damage art. (Photo source: Aude at Wikimedia Commons)
