The Preparation of Bread as an Exhibition Piece / The Preparation of Bread as an Exhibition Piece

V nalogi obravnavam kruh – osnovno hrano (zahodnega sveta), simbol lakote/sitosti in pogost motiv v umetnosti. Raziščem njegovo zgodovino ter na kratko pregledam pomene in simbole, povezane z njim. Kronološko pregledam v katerih umetniških delih sta upodobljena hrana ali kruh s poudarkom na kiparskih medijih. Nadaljujem z raziskavo uporabe dejanske hrane oz. kruha kot umetniškega materiala. Naloga s področja kiparske tehnologije je zasnovana kot preplet med kiparstvom in konservatorstvom-restavratorstvom, saj raziščem možnosti ohranjanja kruha - hrane - organskih materialov, ki jih umetniki želijo razstavljati, ne da bi ti spremenili svojo formo. Vprašam se o vzrokih propadanja, idealnih pogojih razstavljanja in hranjenja, preverim možnosti utrjevanja in zatiranja škodljivcev. Pregledam dosedanje prakse konserviranja in razmislim, za kakšne strategije so se odločili umetniki. Predstavim izdelavo praktičnega dela svoje naloge, pripravo različnih izvedb sladkega kruha titole - kot razstavnega (umetniškega in/ali etnološkega) eksponata. Za ta del sem izdelala ulitek v mavcu, obdelan tako, da izgleda kot pravi ter konservirani kruh (dehidriran in utrjen z akrilno smolo).The present thesis discusses the various aspects of the preparation of bread as an exhibition piece. Bread is the staple food (of the western world), the symbol of hunger/satiety and a common art motif. To start with, I present the history of bread making and continue with an analysis of how bread has been represented in art throughout its history with a special emphasis on the history of sculpture. I continue my research of the art history of bread with the uses of actual food and/or bread as a material for making art. The thesis combines two fields: sculpture and conservation-restoration. I research the possibilities of long-term preservation of bread as food and broadly as an organic materialin order for artists to be able to exhibit it without it changing its form. I discuss the various decaying agents and present the ideal display and storage conditions for its long-term conservation. I research the possibilities of consolidation and pest control and look at what strategies have been used so far by both artists and conservator-restorers. To conclude I present the preparation of the practical part of my work – two different solutions of how to make a traditional sweet bread into a display piece suitable for long-term display (either as an art object or as an ethnological display piece). I make a plaster cast and paint it mimetically to resemble the original as much as possible and I dehydrate a real sweet bread and consolidate it using acrylic resin