About

Eggshells, flowers, onion peels, sponge cake, dried bread, breast milk—these are just a few of the biological materials that some contemporary artists have used to make art. But how can works made from such perishable ingredients be preserved? And what ethical and conceptual dilemmas might be posed by doing so? Because they are prone to rapid decay, even complete disappearance, biological materials pose a range of unique conservation challenges. This groundbreaking book probes the moral and practical challenges associated with displaying, collecting, and preserving these unique works of art. Theoretical considerations are complemented by a range of specific case studies, thereby affording a comprehensive and richly detailed overview of current thinking and practices on this topic.

With contributions by conservators, scholars, curators, and artists, Living Matter is the first publication to address broadly these provocative issues, exploring the role of biological materials in the creative process and presenting a wide variety of possible approaches to their preservation.

“Living Matter: The Preservation of Biological Materials in Contemporary Art”
A conference organized by the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), and Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografia (ENCRyM) of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Mexico City, June 3–5, 2019

Citation Information

Chicago

Rivenc, Rachel, and Kendra Roth, eds. Living Matter: The Preservation of Biological Materials in Contemporary Art, An International Conference Held in Mexico City, June 3–5, 2019. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute, 2022. https://www.getty.edu/publications/living-matter/.

MLA

Rivenc, Rachel, and Kendra Roth, editors. Living Matter: The Preservation of Biological Materials in Contemporary Art, An International Conference Held in Mexico City, June 3–5, 2019. Getty Conservation Institute, 2022. https://www.getty.edu/publications/living-matter/. Accessed Feb. 23, 2021.

Permanent URL

https://www.getty.edu/publications/living-matter/

Revision History

Any revisions or corrections made to this publication after the first edition date will be listed here and in the project repository at github.com/thegetty/living-matter/, where a more detailed version history is available. The revisions branch of the project repository, when present, will also show any changes currently under consideration but not yet published here.

May 24, 2022

  • First edition

Other Formats

This publication was created using Quire™, a multiformat publishing tool owned by the J. Paul Getty Trust.

© 2022 J. Paul Getty Trust
Text by Rachel Rivenc, Kendra Roth, and Timothy P. Whalen © 2022 J. Paul Getty Trust. All other text © the authors.

CC BY-NC

The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. All images are reproduced with the permission of the rights holders acknowledged in captions and are expressly excluded from the CC BY-NC license covering the rest of this publication. These images may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted, or manipulated without consent from the owners, who reserve all rights.

Published by the Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles
Getty Publications
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500
Los Angeles, California 90049-1682
getty.edu/publications

Tevvy Ball, Project Editor
Lindsey Westbrook, Manuscript Editor
Greg Albers, Digital Manager
Kurt Hauser, Cover Designer
Molly McGeehan, Production
Leslie Rollins and Nancy Rivera, Image and Rights Acquisition
Audrey Warne, Digital Assistant

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  • Names: Getty Conservation Institute, author, issuing body. | Rivenc, Rachel, editor. | Kendra Roth, editor.
  • Title: Living Matter: The Preservation of Biological Materials Used in Contemporary Art
  • Description:
  • Identifiers: LCCN (print) | LCCN (ebook) | ISBN 9781606066874 (paperback) | ISBN 9781606067673 (ebook) | ISBN
  • Subjects:
  • Classification:
  • LC record available at
  • LC ebook record available at

Front cover:
Back cover:

The Getty Conservation Institute

Timothy P. Whalen, John E. and Louise Bryson Director
Jeanne Marie Teutonico, Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives and Publications

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) works internationally to advance conservation practice in the visual arts—broadly interpreted to include objects, collections, architecture, and sites. The Institute serves the conservation community through scientific research, education and training, field projects, and the dissemination of information. In all its endeavors, the GCI creates and delivers knowledge that contributes to the conservation of the world’s cultural heritage.