This past spring during National Volunteer Week, volunteers were treated to a backstage view of the installation of Adrian Villar Rojas’s Today We Reboot the Planet by Conservator Sherry and Art Services Technicians Jason Laudadio and Angelo Pedari. For those of you who missed the talk, here is Sherry’s recap of some of the major challenges the team encountered.

One of the first tasks was to assess how the gallery space on the 4th floor would accommodate the contents of 32 cartons (some as big as 6’x4’x4′), including four multi-tiered display cases. Once it was decided to display the cases next to each other in a concentrated area, staff determined that it would be necessary to have a steel plate installed to help distribute the weight. As the artist was not keen to have a plate on display the next question was how to artificially cover it. The solution was to pour concrete to anchor the legs of the display cases. This was covered with a layer of Styrofoam, then a layer of brick veneer (brought in from Ohio). While the bricks are mortared, the give of the Styrofoam beneath has led to cracking of the mortar in some places.

The clay and other items were then installed. A few pieces broke and were replaced by the studio. At one point it was necessary to re-pot the upside down snake plant. Sherry undertook that herself. Her first attempt was rejected as being to smooth and perfect, so she created a second lumpy draft that was accepted by the artist. At one point one of pieces of toast was damaged; however, instead of making a new slice, she was able to find an adhesive to repair it.

The next major challenge was maintaining the living parts of the work – such as the sprouted potatoes. Sherry has become an expert on sprouting (within the AGO ecosystem, at least) and says she prefers Yukon gold for their stability and sproutability. Once sprouted, they remain in place until the artists’ studio decides it’s time to replace them (Sherry is in touch with the studio on a weekly basis!). Part of the challenge is to make the potatoes look they are struggling – the work is supposed to look like the future idea of a museum. While time-consuming, the work is critical to the meaning of the piece. Her favourite part of the work is in fact the tiny metal lid containing tiny potatoes with tiny swan-like sprouts – “I just love the potato energy!” she exclaimed.

Sherry notes that one thing she has raised with the artist is what is to happen to the work once both she and he are gone – a question artists may be reluctant to contemplate as it forces them to recognize their own mortality. Typically, older artists are often already think about it, while for younger ones it’s still an abstract concept. The answers for this particular piece are still a work in progress.