The purpose of this master thesis was to conserve the lounge chair Gondola designed by Oskar Kogoj. With conservation-restoration interventions we wanted to stabilize the lounge chair and aesthetically improve its appearance. Seven samples were taken from the lounge chair and analysed by scanning with an optical microscope, a linear electronic microscope and infrared spectroscope. After making those reviews, we were able to determine exactly which materials were used on lounge chair developing. We precisely determined which procedures to use in conservation-restoration interventions on the lounge chair. Considering that the lounge chair's top material (sheep fur) was severely damaged, we illuminated new samples of sheep fur in the Xenotest alpha chamber by increasing the exposure time to ultraviolet rays (72 h, 144 h and 216 h). We discovered how xenon light with range from 300 to 400 nm, affects the physic - mechanical properties of the material and whether the exposure to ultraviolet rays is really responsible for the destruction of lounge chair’s fur. After illumination, we exposed fur samples to various methods of mechanical stress. Those methods were rubbing the sheep fur on the Martindale apparatus and measuring its tearing properties on the Instron dynamometer. Illuminated fur samples were compared with non-illuminated ones and found that the exposure of fur to ultraviolet rays exacerbate its physical-mechanical properties. We measured colour values and calculated colour differences according to the CIELAB colour system on illuminated and non-illuminated samples of sheep fur. We found that colour of the top layer of fur samples varies with increased exposure to time of illumination. According to the damages on the lounge chair we determined the conservator-restoration interventions. We focused mainly on cleaning the lounge chair and restoring the most damaged places of the lounge chair, such as the torn lower fabric and lacerations on the armrest. The complete restoration work is documented with photographs in the enclosed annex of the master thesis.
|