Preserving Intention: A Conservation Framework for The Blue Skies Project
Institutions are increasingly collecting artworks that necessitate bespoke approaches to their conservation. This is especially the case with contemporary artworks that combine multiple materials deliberately intended to deteriorate over time. This paper delves into the Victoria & Albert Museum's experiences of developing a conservation framework for The Blue Skies Project, an installation featuring 1078 instant prints and a generative software component. Using the artists' intention to let these photographs fade over time as a point of departure, this paper outlines how this intent has been folded into the artwork's care and recorded during the acquisition stage using documentation. It acknowledges the limits of intent, suggesting that, in reality, this often needs to be balanced with existing professional expectations, policies and paradigms.
Barbara Borghese & Anna Mladentseva (2026) "Preserving Intention: A Conservation Framework for The Blue Skies Project", Studies in Conservation, 71:sup1, S44–S51, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2026.2674865