Nek Chand was a self-taught Indian artist who died at the age of 90 in 2015. In tribute to Chand, the Rubin Museum of Art displayed two of his Fantasy Garden sculptures in the lobby.
Ten of Chand’s dynamic sculptures were donated to the Rubin Museum of Art in 2014 and were originally created for a site-specific installation at the National Children’s Museum in Maryland in 1984. Unlike many of our Tibetan and Nepalese bronze sculptures, these pieces were created to exist outdoors in a public space or “Fantasy Garden” among many other representations of figures and animals. They were originally installed outside by Chand and a team of volunteers in a setting that would have been like a mini version of his famous Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India, containing over two thousand figures and animals.
The materials used to decorate these pieces are a combination of ceramic crockery shards, volcanic rock, shell, and glass that were applied into wet concrete over a metal support such as rebar. Multiple losses in decoration and stress cracking in various places are evidence that the sculptures have existed outside for 30 years. While inherently resilient, all material becomes vulnerable over time due to moisture and extreme climate fluctuation, hence the loss of adhesion in the concrete. The goal for rehousing these sculptures into the Rubin Museum’s collection is to minimize further deterioration and material loss as well as to provide proper support when moving the objects via art shuttle to and from the Museum and off-site storage facility.
In order to begin the process of entry into the collection, Rubin collections management staff needed early access to the artworks, which were being kept in a commercial warehouse outside of Baltimore. During a site visit to the warehouse, the objects that were selected to be donated to the Rubin needed to be isolated from the larger group of Nek Chand pieces being stored there.
Modified shipping pallets found on location were repurposed to accommodate the selected group of figures and animals, which were then securely packed for temporary storage and staging for later transportation to the Museum’s off-site storage facility. There would be ample space to repack everything there with long-term considerations in mind. Initial condition evaluations and measurements were also recorded at this time to help determine the next steps for conservation and rehousing.
An art transportation company came to collect the packed pallets and added some additional braces and padding for the 192-mile trip to New York City. Once the objects arrived, the negative results that movement and vibration had on the material were visible. It was necessary to call in contract conservators specializing in object treatment to reattach some of the loose pieces and help consolidate areas that would be prone to future damage.
This initial journey showed that the objects were held firm inside the pallets but did not protect well enough against shock. This is where inert polyethylene foam came in to help the situation. By custom fitting archival foam to specific void spaces, this material can do double duty by absorbing vibration and also provide a firm yet cushioned support for the art.
The solid wood pallet skids were also not helping the negative vibration problem. To solve this, collections management staff employed heavy-duty plastic skids that provide resilient cushioning, the equivalent of three inches of urethane foam. As an added bonus, the skids also resist friction when slid over irregular surfaces such as truck floors and pallet rack shelving.
Finally, as a non-abrasive barrier between the foam and the textured objects, nylon film was used to wrap the art and act as a transparent dust covering and waterproof membrane for the objects. These materials, in combination with cotton webbing secured in key areas of weakness, do a much better job in creating a softer ride and a safer storage solution.
Two of the larger Nek Chand sculptures were temporarily installed in the Museum’s windowed lobby. This meant that display designs had to be worked out, exhibition furniture and mounts fabricated, signage written and printed, high-resolution images professionally shot, and shipping and installation for the objects coordinated (time to test out the new packing arrangement!). Fortunately, everything went smoothly, including a safe journey across the East River for the objects.
Lots of activity from so many departments with a unified mission made it possible for the donated Nek Chand sculptures to be seen from both inside and outside of the Rubin Museum of Art, sharing part of Chand’s legacy with the world.
