Supervised by Dr Bronwyn Ormsby, Principal Conservation Scientist, Tate; Dr Katherine Curran, Associate Professor of Sustainable Heritage, UCL; Cecilia Bembibre, Lecturer in Sustainable Heritage, UCL.
October 2026 –
Rachel Whiteread
Untitled (Air Bed II) 1992
Polyurethane rubber
1220 x 1970 x 230 mm
Tate T06731
© Rachel Whiteread
Modern and contemporary art (M&CA) acquisitions have recently accelerated to over 90% of all works coming into Tate’s collection, many involving new materials with lesser-known compositions. Little is known about the types and amounts of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emitted from these often large and complex artworks, including whether VOCs pose a risk to the artworks themselves, to artworks in close proximity or even to human health. VOCs can include organic acids, aldehydes, additives and material degradation products generated during curing processes and over time. Within a primarily protective (closed) storage context, the build-up of VOCs may occur across a range of materials in significant quantities, warranting identification at both the analytical and practitioner levels. This increasingly urgent query will be explored through a selection of case study M&CA works from Tate’s sculpture and installation art collection. The translation of the case study findings into guidance for the improved care of M&CA collections, including mitigating measures such as simple changes to storage housing and the use of VOC absorbing materials, will contribute directly to core preservation objectives and practice, for Tate, and other global collections.
About Ella Enrique Shakespeare
Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ella Enrique Shakespeare graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and a minor in late antique medieval studies from Pomona College in Claremont, California. There, she studied sustainable materials and plastic degradation alongside art history and conservation. She has previously worked as a researcher at the Idaho National Laboratory and at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, where she studied the conservation of modern materials.