Extremophile Molds Are Invading Art Museums (scientificamerican.com) 33
Scientific American's Elizabeth Anne Brown recently "polled the great art houses of Europe" about whether they'd had any recent experiences with mold in their collections. Despite the stigma that keeps many institutions silent, she found that extremophile "xerophilic" molds are quietly spreading through museums and archives, thriving in low-humidity, tightly sealed storage and damaging everything from textiles and wood to manuscripts and stone. An anonymous Slashdot reader shares an excerpt from the article: Mold is a perennial scourge in museums that can disfigure and destroy art and artifacts. [...] Consequently, mold is spoken of in whispers in the museum world. Curators fear that even rumors of an infestation can hurt their institution's funding and blacklist them from traveling exhibitions. When an infestation does occur, it's generally kept secret. The contract conservation teams that museums hire to remediate invasive mold often must vow confidentiality before they're even allowed to see the damage.
But a handful of researchers, from in-house conservators to university mycologists, are beginning to compare notes about the fungal infestations they've tackled in museum storage depots, monastery archives, crypts and cathedrals. A disquieting revelation has emerged from these discussions: there's a class of molds that flourish in low humidity, long believed to be a sanctuary from decay. By trying so hard to protect artifacts, we've accidentally created the "perfect conditions for [these molds] to grow," says Flavia Pinzari, a mycologist at the Council of National Research of Italy. "All the rules for conservation never considered these species."
These molds -- called xerophiles -- can survive in dry, hostile environments such as volcano calderas and scorching deserts, and to the chagrin of curators across the world, they seem to have developed a taste for cultural heritage. They devour the organic material that abounds in museums -- from fabric canvases and wood furniture to tapestries. They can also eke out a living on marble statues and stained-glass windows by eating micronutrients in the dust that accumulates on their surfaces. And global warming seems to be helping them spread. Most frustrating for curators, these xerophilic molds are undetectable by conventional means. But now, armed with new methods, several research teams are solving art history cold cases and explaining mysterious new infestations...
The xerophiles' body count is rising: bruiselike stains on Leonardo da Vinci's most famous self-portrait, housed in Turin. Brown blotches on the walls of King Tut's burial chamber in Luxor. Pockmarks on the face of a saint in an 11th-century fresco in Kyiv. It's not enough to find and identify the mold. Investigators are racing to determine the limits of xerophilic life and figure out which pieces of our cultural heritage are at the highest risk of infestation before the ravenous microbes set in.
But a handful of researchers, from in-house conservators to university mycologists, are beginning to compare notes about the fungal infestations they've tackled in museum storage depots, monastery archives, crypts and cathedrals. A disquieting revelation has emerged from these discussions: there's a class of molds that flourish in low humidity, long believed to be a sanctuary from decay. By trying so hard to protect artifacts, we've accidentally created the "perfect conditions for [these molds] to grow," says Flavia Pinzari, a mycologist at the Council of National Research of Italy. "All the rules for conservation never considered these species."
These molds -- called xerophiles -- can survive in dry, hostile environments such as volcano calderas and scorching deserts, and to the chagrin of curators across the world, they seem to have developed a taste for cultural heritage. They devour the organic material that abounds in museums -- from fabric canvases and wood furniture to tapestries. They can also eke out a living on marble statues and stained-glass windows by eating micronutrients in the dust that accumulates on their surfaces. And global warming seems to be helping them spread. Most frustrating for curators, these xerophilic molds are undetectable by conventional means. But now, armed with new methods, several research teams are solving art history cold cases and explaining mysterious new infestations...
The xerophiles' body count is rising: bruiselike stains on Leonardo da Vinci's most famous self-portrait, housed in Turin. Brown blotches on the walls of King Tut's burial chamber in Luxor. Pockmarks on the face of a saint in an 11th-century fresco in Kyiv. It's not enough to find and identify the mold. Investigators are racing to determine the limits of xerophilic life and figure out which pieces of our cultural heritage are at the highest risk of infestation before the ravenous microbes set in.
Use old-fashioned remedies. (Score:5, Funny)
Too soon (Score:4, Informative)
You're a month too late [bbc.com] to hire her.
Comic collectors might care (Score:2)
Stuff spreads.
Mathematician warned you.... (Score:3, Funny)
Life, uhhh, finds a way.
And there is the 'global warming' argument again (Score:1)
As if inside a museum with all it's climate control and airconditioners the effects of global warming would be noticeable.
Micro-climate-sapiens. (Score:4, Funny)
As if inside a museum with all it's climate control and airconditioners the effects of global warming would be noticeable.
Not unlike Las Vegas casinos. Have you seen the creatures that can grow on slot machines before 9AM?
George Romero filmed there once. Only once.
Gotta love nature and life ... (Score:3)
... and the way it always finds a way. Fascinating.
The Diss-infectants. (Score:3)
The contract conservation teams that museums hire to remediate invasive mold often must vow confidentiality before they're even allowed to see the damage.
Uh, it’s called a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). A concept many here are likely very aware of, and don’t really need it explained like we’re 7 years old hearing about dinosaurs for the first time.
You can practically read TFS in the voice of a James Cameron sci-fi narrator and sell tickets to the next Night at the National Treasure Museum of Human Fate.
(creepy-but-cool movie dude voice) ”A mold..(pause for effect)..quietly spreading through museums..(pause)..and archives..(pause)..thriving in low-humidity..is no match for..the Team that vows to work..(pause)..in confidence. When you need the best..to address your worst..you call, The Diss-infectants.”
(Yeah, I know it more sounds like Mr. Cleans teenage garage band. I timewarped from the era of enemies called Pussy Galore.)
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> Uh, it’s called a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
Of course, but there aren't many cleaners that have to sign one about the dirt they're there to clean up.
Ironically enough, Chernobyl comes to mind. Also known as the "dirt" denied enough to end a superpower known as the USSR.
I'm guessing you haven't been exposed to the kinds of consultants that get called in like The Wolf in Pulp Fiction. In the era of ransomware, the NDA stands as a necessity to avoid public scrutiny. Especially for publicly traded companies.
I agree. There aren't many.
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Same thought... is this like being frozen in carbonite? Extreme molds?
Store the art in an O2 free atmosphere (Score:2)
Molds require oxygen , no o2 no growing. So where possible they should store the works in nitrogen or some other inert gas as is done with some foodstuffs.
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I was just going to mention this. Vacuum seal the art in glass/lexan cases or fill with inert gasses. Would not be hard to have vaults filled with inert gas for long term preservation.
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Put ports on the lexan case to periodically flush the atmosphere with fresh nitrogen.
N2 (Score:2)
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Pure nitrogen is dangerous. Without a way to detect oxygen levels, you can breath it, and you'll pass-out and die.
It's not super hard to detect oxygen levels. All of our cars do it. If you're putting paintings into nitrogen gas then presumably they will be in sealed frames and the total volume will be low compared to the rooms they're stored in. If you're doing a vault with nitrogen then you'll be using SCBA when you go into it.
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Pure nitrogen is how they store apples and other fresh foodstuffs over the winter so they are still fresh almost a year later. If farmers can figure it out, I'm sure a bunch of Phd curators can do it.
or use radiation (Score:2, Funny)
Place spent fuel rods from nuclear reactors in the vaults instead of in cooling ponds.
Win-win.
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Place spent fuel rods from nuclear reactors in the vaults instead of in cooling ponds. Win-win.
Till we get molds that like radiation. Seriously, Mother Nature is relentless in her quest to recycle and restore balance; and doesn't like being screwed with..
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In TMI II they had the problem after the accident, algae was growing in the reactor core. They had to chemically clean it out to be able to access the fuel rods.
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End up with nothing but paintings of Godzilla.
Preserve by analysis and copying (Score:2)
Global Warming??? (Score:3)
Really? That one sentence from TFA, without any supporting argument, makes TFS? ffs