What’s On the Surface Does Matter: The Conservation of Applied Surface Decoration of Historic Stained Glass Windows

A stained glass window is both an architectural building element and an individual work of art. Like architecture, a stained glass window is composed of a variety of materials, mainly glass, lead, and surface decoration, each of which has its own conservation issues. Surface decoration, which includes vitreous glass paint, silver stain, and enamels, is the component of a stained glass window that is sometimes underappreciated. While it may not pose a major threat to the physical stability of the window or the safety of the window’s environment, it is the decoration that defines the windows as works of art, with imagery that holds the window’s history, including a direct view into the traditions, ideals, and beliefs of the people of their time. The conservation of the surface decoration of stained glass windows has never been fully analyzed, and both glazing and conservation professionals are constantly seeking information regarding the history of the materials and techniques used in order to create or restore a stained glass window. With conservation, the methods and techniques used to maintain and conserve the decoration will vary depending on a number of circumstances, including the location of the window, the history and traditions of the people involved, and the tools available to the conservators. As with all conservation fields, there are also ethical considerations to address in order to be sure that the authenticity of each work is maintained. For this history, it is also important to note the past restoration techniques used on these types of decoration, as well as what is being used today. This includes successes and failures, both of which bring essential information to the conservator. Each window brings with it an entirely new history and set of decoration conservation problems so there are no universal solutions for this field. Stained glass is a fascinating field because it combines the worlds of art and architecture with a single object and the surface decoration plays an important role in this. By analyzing the history and techniques of these three surface decorations, it is possible to not only preserve an underappreciated element inherent to these historic stained glass windows, but also the overall aesthetic of true works of art that serve to enhance the buildings in which they reside

Development of a mechatronic sorting system for removing contaminants from wool

Automated visual inspection (AVI) systems have been extended to many fields, such as agriculture and the food, plastic and textile industries. Generally, most visual systems only inspect product defects, and then analyze and grade them due to the lack of any sorting function. This main reason rests with the difficulty of using the image data in real time. However, it is increasingly important to either sort good products from bad or grade products into separate groups usingAVI systems. This article describes the development of a mechatronic sorting system and its integration with a vision system for automatically removing contaminants from wool in real time. The integration is implemented by a personal computer, which continuously processes live images under the Windows 2000 operating system. The developed real-time sorting approach is also applicable to many other AVI systems

Looking In

Not Include

Framing loss and figuring grief in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida

This article concentrates on the formal and aesthetic aspects of Paweł Pawlikowski’s 2013 film Ida in the context of an increasingly visible interest in the history of Polish-Jewish relations in Poland, and with the loss of its Jewish communities in the Holocaust. The film encourages us to pose certain questions: how can something that is no longer present be represented or framed? How can loss be given visual shape, and grief a visible form? In exploring these questions, the article considers how the framing of space becomes intertwined with the process of unearthing, with, that is, the excavation of human remains alongside the extraction of repressed or denied memories and histories. The film’s framing is also warped by grief, which is here understood not only as an individual reaction to loss, but also as inhering in material objects and taking shape in formal structures. Drawing on the writing of Eugenie Brinkema and Roland Barthes, the article explores how grief distresses visibility and illuminates absence

Exploring and Expressing Points in Time through iPhoneography

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how iPhoneography extends a personal expression of lights, lines, patterns previously captured on film and digital devices through arts-based research that includes social media feedback. This thesis explores the elements of photographing fleeting moments of time using new technology. This work investigates how to capture moments from daily life through recording the essence of light on surfaces and objects. Images arise from spontaneous and/or semi-spontaneous artistic moments. Visual investigations explore and question light, time, and space, and are categorized into the themes of Shapes, Shadows, and Showers. The work has roots in some of America’s most venerated photographers, who became early inspirations. They include Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, Joseph Jachna (a college professor of mine), and Minor White. Their points of view inspired me during my formative years as a photography student and have instilled in me the visual voice I use in my work to this day. Like many of these photographers, I looked locally and across the country for moments in time that moved me. Photographs were captured using an Apple iPhone 5 and 6. Light and easy constant companions, they served accessible tools always in reach and served as a digital sketchbook. The iPhone allowed the capture of the immediacy of the moment using existing light. Kept on High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode, the camera amazingly caught highlight and shadow detail

Light and the Soul of Architecture

The firm objective data of architecture are essential. They are all we can measure out, manufacture, construct, and then afterwards, scan, examine and inspect

The veil

The Veil signifies the proverbial wool over the eyes of the public with regard to mortality. We will all die, everyone, we know, and love will die too. We don’t know when, or how, and there is nothing we can do to change the inevitable. Accepting our mortality—and that of those around us—is key to opening a dialogue about grief and loss and a “broken” world in which such issues are ignored. This thesis focuses on bereavement, unmasking the stigma against catharsis, and the overemphasis of positivity. Grief is defined as “deep sorrow, especially that caused by someone\u27s death” (Oxford Collegiate Dictionary, 1992). It is a word that is both familiar and unfamiliar, a state of being that is uncomfortable to discuss and dreadful to endure. My research is concerned with sudden loss and the aftermath of tragedy. In my work, catharsis is a necessary component in the acknowledgment and validation of grief. Traumatic loss is a sudden, unnatural death—suicide, motor vehicle accident, house fire, and includes witnessing the death of a loved one. These types of deaths can trigger post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression for those left behind. They can leave lasting impressions, the psychological equivalent of a deep physical scar. My research is concerned with the aftermath of tragedy and the psychological effects of sudden loss. In my art, connotations of catharsis emphasize the necessity of acknowledging grief through the expression of creativity

Buried with Tiffany: A Conservation Plan for the Tiffany Glass Mosaics of the Harris C. Fahnestock Mausoleum at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York

This thesis examines the interior glass mosaics of the Harris C. Fahnestock mausoleum within The Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York. A conservation plan was developed to preserve the only complete mosaic interior by Louis Comfort Tiffany at The Woodlawn Cemetery. This particular design is one of Tiffany’s earliest ecclesiastical commissions and contains a rare example of a domed mosaic interior. A comprehensive evaluation of exterior envelope defined the interior mosaic deterioration. Material analysis was performed on sections of the mosaic composition. Recommendations are made for a conservation plan to prevent further deterioration of this significant mortuary decorative art

Derelect Churchbells Ring in New Technology

In order to accommodate this, we should first test algae facades on pre-existing building shells. I have a specific interest in derelect churches in because they are plenitful and although not on historic lists, they can still be preserved through the revitalization process. All buildings cannot be saved for preservation sake, so these buildings can accomodate new programs for specific city and site needs. Injecting these new technologies into the buildings will produce a contradiction that emphasizes both the new and old architecture. The deeper meaning of this thesis embodies what the visual chroma effects of algae are on the built enviornment. This includes their presence at night as a sustainable broadcaster through the RGB colors of algae and their daylit interiors encompassing a mixture of reflected colored light