The Framers Forum

Every now and again I get asked to do something odd. This time I have been asked to provide a hanging system for an artist who wants to display paper without a frame or mount. The paper should be 'as flat as possible on the wall'. The paper used is fairly thick watercolour paper and the mounting materials should be acid free and fully reversible.

I had thought about using 'Secol' mounting strips in tandem on the back and on the wall to provide a locking, split-baton type of hanger.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Denny

I'd show him/her the door, it's not framing. I'd suggest s/he paints on a suitable substrate.

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you!

You're right, it's not framing but it does fall within the 'mounting' and hanging category and he is a good customer. Anyone else and they would be offered the door.

4 pins hammered fully into the wall where each corner of the paper will be. Then those tiny 2mm super strong magnets placed at each corner.

I read it too quick - was thinking of having to do something, not provide something for a customer to use.

Liking the magnet idea! Earth/rare earth magnets but be careful, they can be so strong you need tools to remove them!

I'm not sure whether he wants it to be flush against the wall, or just flat. If the latter, you could hedgehog it onto some mountboard/foam board and then attach the board to the wall in a less conservation-friendly manner (sticky fixers?). That will keep it flat. And if the board is thin then it will be pretty close to the wall.

There seems by the way to be no point at all in conservation methods for something that is going to get dirty (on account of the absence of a frame) long before the (non-)'framing' method causes any damage...

It never ceases to amaze me how people will agonise about 'acid free' yet insist on a display method that
will expose the work to airborne pollutants/coffee splashes/incontinent creepy-crawlies/pokey fingers/etc.

Flat as possible on the wall? Well it will be as flat as it is already and no less.


If they persist, then I suppose James' method would fill the bill.

Blutac or 4 drawing pins. As Prospero says why go to the extent of it being reversible and acid free when it is open to the elements. I would be sugesting the 'artist' actually frame them properly. He is obviously being a cheapskate but what does it say to the buying public that he is prepared to expose a piece of work he is trying to sell to them to the elements. I wouldn't buy it.

Graysalchemy wrote:Blutac or 4 drawing pins.

And I thought you were a businessman.

I didn't say how much I would charge for them though.

Hang a washing line up and use clothes pegs for each artwork.

Are those acid-free clothes pegs?

Adhesive micro dots! Two types are available, one type is permanent, ther other is temporary. There are a number of different suppliers for these, I don't know much about the different suppliers and the specs of their products, so check out the product data sheets first, before spending any money. Afterwards you can rub off the temporary dots, with your finger.

I seem to remember seeing them described as suitable for "archival" uses somewhere, but I think you ought to check this out as I'm not sure if I remembered this correctly.

Yes, you're right about the acid free thing. A lot of it is kidology, if the hanging technique is to be removable then having acid free on it isn't going to help a lot especially if if its going to be exposed for the duration of the show.

This artist has very high value work though and quite a lot of the time it's the market that demands a clinical history for artworks. The show will be in an air conditioned, humidity controlled gallery in Japan so I think he's thought through the aesthetics of the show although unfortunately hasn't thought through the practicalities!

We can't put pins through the work as they will probably be cushion floated upon purchase and magnets would show however small although it would look good.

I thought this would have been an easy one and I usually figure things out like this for myself...

How can you hang a piece of paper 'flush' on a wall without damaging the artwork?

Thanks a lot for everyone's advice, it's nice to see that other people in the trade have followed my initial thinking.

Sometimes what the customer wants just isn't possible.

Ooh, thank you @NotYourAverageFramer, I hadn't thought about that. I'll look into that, maybe test to see if they hit that sweetspot between being too being too sticky and not sticky enough!

Some experiments are afoot!