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Hanging brackets secured to wall, Courtesy Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art


Hanging brackets and suplemental supports (detail), Courtesy Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art


Connecting object to lifting beam with bailing wire, Courtesy Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art


Lifting beam secured to basket of vertical lifts, Courtesy Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art


Raising object to height of hanging brackets, Courtesy Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art


Additional lift used to transfer sections from beam to hanging brackets, Courtesy Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Mark Milani, Chief Preparator

The Nelson-Atkins acquired Anatsui's Dusasa I, (approximately 24 x 37 ft., approx. 175 lbs.), which hung at the Venice Biennial in 2007. To Mark's knowledge the Nelson-Atkins display was the second installation of this artwork.

Mark: Our piece came with a dozen welded, hanging brackets that would project it off the wall about 8 inches. They were secured with drywall screws and spread out over a 36-foot run. The major problem was raising the piece 20 feet without it tearing itself apart. The copper wire that ties all those pieces together cannot support the added weight as it unfolds when raising it. We built a wooden rig, which spanned beyond the width of the piece, and attached it on two lifts. [They did not use an additional grid support system like others in this report. Mark thought a grid system could be useful in future installations.] We secured the top of the El Anatsui to the rig by threading bailing wire horizontally in 2- to 3-foot sections and tying it to the wood beam. We raised the piece as you would a large drape, and then a person on a third lift transferred the 2- to 3-foot sections to the hanging brackets on the wall. It was very effective, and at that height you cannot see the bailing wire.

Nelson-Atkins curators spent approximately three days trying to replicate folds in the artwork as they had appeared in Venice. Because the two sites were structurally quite different, Mark had to install additional cleats and lines to help recreate the Venice form. Mark noted that during the manipulation, a screw or nail that was inserted to anchor a form frequently became a pinch point when the artwork continued to be manipulated, causing sheer (damage). He found cowhide gloves useful, while other gloves such as Kevlar were quickly shredded. He also suggested wearing short-sleeve shirts and other clothes less likely to snag the artwork. After installation conservators repaired localized damage.

The artwork is folded for storage. Using an interleaf of 8-millimeter poly, art handlers fold the piece lengthwise several times, but only once in the other direction, reducing the number of hard or sharp folds. It is stored on a palette so it can easily be moved with a forklift.


Summary and Implications for the Second NCMA Installation

The main objective of all the museum professionals interviewed was to spread the load of the overall weight during hoisting and reduce the amount of snagging within the artwork during installation and sculpting, which they accomplished in a variety of ways. This was a two-step process: getting the sculpture on the wall, followed by form manipulation, however minimal or aggressive that might be. No matter how carefully or efficiently the initial hanging was accomplished, the second process of sculpting was always impacted positively or negatively. In the following section, I combined all of our techniques with some additional suggestions that should help reduce much of the stress and damage we’ve witnessed in the past.

Ideally, the wall should be prepared in advance with the installation of a support or hanging system. This has been accomplished in the past using cleats, hooks, or a battery of nails and screws, anchored in the wall at predetermined positions, particularly along the top. These anchors are very effective if the supporting lattice grid (see below) is to be left in place after installation. But if the top part of the work is to be manipulated and shaped, and the supporting lattice removed, much of the preanchored hardware can become redundant, a hazard that easily snags and damages the artwork. An alternate system is to cover the entire wall surface to be occupied by the artwork with Ethafoam (see the Metropolitan’s section); one-inch thick should work well. Kendra Roth felt that Ethafoam would be a good support due to its stable, unreactive nature.

After our first installation, we thought the artwork should be unfolded to its full extent onto thick poly sheeting placed on the floor in front of the display wall. This would allow for most snags and tangles to be released. It can be difficult to spread out a very large piece, the room may not accommodate it’s size, and the artwork’s length can make it impossible to access the front of the piece as it goes up on the wall. Smaller works might benefit from being rolled onto a tube using an interleaf, which would ease installation and deinstallation, and make for good storage.

In order to raise the artwork onto the display wall, handlers should attach a support system to the upper part of the work. A lattice grid constructed of thin wooden strips (1 x 1 in.) appears to be a good structure. It should be the width of the artwork and approximately a quarter to a third of the vertical length of the artwork. It needs to be well constructed to support the weight of the piece without bending. A padding of thin Ethafoam can be wrapped around the individual parts of the lattice. The padding also serves to isolate the hygroscopic wood from the artwork. The lattice is attached to the top of the artwork at numerous spots to spread its load during hoisting. Attachment every 2 feet, both vertically and horizontally, over the area of the grid would seem to be sufficient. This might be most easily and efficiently accomplished using zip ties. These relatively soft plastic strips are quick and easy to install and remove, and would probably have a less detrimental effect than metal screws or hooks during installation. The lattice can be left in place after installation or removed. If the lattice is to be removed, it might be best to attach it to the front of the artwork for installation.

There are several possibilities for hoisting the artwork up and onto the wall. The Nelson-Atkins raised their very large piece with a long solid boom between two lifts (without a lattice grid). Smaller works can probably be lifted by hand from ladders or stair towers. Another possibility is to rig a pulley system above the installation site and hoist the artwork by ropes, similar to sailboat rigging, a system employed by the Metropolitan. With all of these systems, the artwork slides smoothly along the floor on the poly sheeting (or rolls off a tube) as it is lifted.

After the artwork is raised into position, it can be anchored to the wall. The lattice grid can be anchored to the wall if the lattice is to remain as a support. If the lattice will be removed, handlers can temporarily anchor the work to the underlying Ethafoam with long skewers. Thick chopsticks should work nicely. Chopsticks have the advantage of being strong yet relatively soft and less likely to damage the work than metal hardware. They are also quite visible, so as the work is sculpted, redundant sticks can easily be seen and removed. Chopsticks inserted every 12 to 24 inches or so, both vertically and horizontally within the top quarter or third of the work, will support the artwork while the lattice is removed and the lower part of the artwork manipulated and sculpted. Chopsticks can also be used for the manipulation phase to hold the shape. After the lower areas are sculpted, the upper part can be partially released and sculpted. Working from the bottom up during the sculpting phase avoids excessive pulling and weight loads on the area being manipulated. Invariably, sculpting will occur wherever it’s needed or wanted. Once again the chopsticks are easily removed and replaced as needed while the majority of the artwork is safely supported overall.

After the artwork has been manipulated into its final form, the whole work can be resupported using less visible rods to replace the wooden skewers. Clear acrylic rods appear to be a good choice, as they are unreactive and nearly invisible. Rods of varying thickness (1/8 to 3/16 in.) and length can be inserted into the Ethafoam through existing holes in the artwork and angled up to catch the fabric of the sculpture. The idea is to spread the weight of the artwork to as many points as is practical to avoid damage in any one spot. The rods should be closely spaced, but mockups suggest that only those areas of the work close to the underlying wall, or the underside of projecting folds, can be effectively supported. If necessary, additional rod, wire, or possibly fishing line (clear) supports might be devised. Resupporting the artwork is best accomplished working from the ground up, replacing wooden skewers with rods.

In some cases manipulation and shaping might require additional building out to create folds and raised forms. In this case blocks of Ethafoam can be slipped behind the artwork and anchored into the existing foam. Larger shapes might be accomplished by lashing acrylic rods together to form whatever shape is required. Lashed rods have the advantage of weighing less than large pieces of Ethafoam. Also, Ethafoam blocks can be distracting when seen through the openings in the artwork. Clear rods do not influence the shadow cast by the work, which in some cases is an important aspect of the installation.

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