RE: Dry Mounting

Use an intermount - an acid-free board obviously larger than the print but
smaller than the hinged overmat. I have used dry mount and press for years,
having been trained in the Ansel Adams school. It's not the easiest
technique and takes practice and some skill. For single weight papers, such
as AZO, it's ideal. Regarding archival survival, an argument can be made
that sealing the back of a print prolongs its life by excluding airborne
pollutants. The main problems with failure of preservation relate to
inadequate washing and similar production factors. I have seen no convincing
proof that the heat of the press or the mounting tissue actually cause
significant harm as compared with production deficiencies. For heavy weight
paper I use Japanese hinging on an intermediate board of smaller size than
the matting (that's also the case with dry mounting - In both cases the
overmat can be easily replaced if need be). If you discuss conservation
with the museum people about fragile works by the Stern twins, for example,
they will tell you that they can handle it, no matter how physically
unstable the art appears to be. They can also handle mounted prints. Joachim
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Liam Lawless [mailto:lawless@bulldoghome.com]
  Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 6:44 PM
  To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
  Subject: Dry Mounting

  Evening all,

  I recently bought a dry mount press for flattening prints and have been
doing some thinking about dry mounting. The big issue with conservators
seems to be its irreversibility in the event of the mat being damaged, I
think, but Steve Anchell makes the point that if the presentation of a work
be regarded as part of the work itself then we should be taking just as much
care of the mat as the print (see
http://www.steveanchell.com/articles/articles-output-preservation-and-presen
tation.php).

  Anchell also talks about new, archival dry mount tissues, and gives a link
to a Michael Smith article,
http://www.superiorarchivalmats.com/sam/Article.html, which illustrates the
supposed benefits of acid-free mounting tissues. I'm not too bothered about
the views of conservators who, in my experience, are opposed to almost
EVERYTHING, but have read that shellac does yellow and cause stains with
age. My question, therefore, is does modern dry mount tissue still use
shellac adhesive? If so, would buffering prevent its decay, or just delay
it?

  Also, what are everyone's view's on dry mounting?

  Thanks,

  Liam
Received on 06/02/06-05:38:50 PM Z