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Good afternoon everyone. Hope you are all keeping safe and well.
A customer has made an initial enquiry about some art he would like framing. However it is on really thin paper almost like tissue paper. I assured him I would hinge it with the correct conservation methods but he was asking if there was any way it could be mounted without any tape as it's so fragile. I said I would ask the forum.
I was thinking I could just trap it with a front and back mount or even make a little ledge between the two but in reality I think it would slip or crumple. My other idea was clear photo corners. He questioned if they were archival. . Please can you help me so I can sound like I know what I'm talking about.
It may be possible to lay the artwork onto a suitable piece of paper, larger than the artwork and fold the edges of the piece of paper over the edges of the artwork, to support the artwork in position and then hide the narrow fold overs arond the artwork, behind a window mount. You would need to allow some space within this piece of paper and it's folded over edges to allow for the artwork expanding and contracting with the seasons. It would then be the folded paper that is fixed in position and not the artwork.
Mark Lacey
“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
The issue with this is the fact the paper is so thin. If you use edge strips, corners whatever - will the paper be able to support itself. If it’s the type I’m thinking of - it’s probably not strong enough.
I’d hinge it as a first attempt with Japanese tissue and methyl cellulose or klucel g.
Or another option is sandwiching it between two pieces of acrylic - the static charge should hold it fine.
We don't know very much about the actual artwork, but a platform mount, might be good way to go if, the width of the paper of the artwork hidden behing the window mount is not to skinny, if the artwork is not held to fimly by the platform mount, so that it has enough freedom to let the artwork to move freely with the seasonal variations in humidity and in view of the fact that the paper is said to be very thin, that the artwort is not excessively large. otherwise a platform mount will probably be fine.
Mark Lacey
“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
The platform mount option could easily be done whith a double thickness of mountboard at the back and then the proper backing board, for a really serious level of physical protection to reflectt the fact that the artwork is considered to be potentially very fragile, which would probably convince the customer that his fragile artwork was recieving the maxium care.
Mark Lacey
“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
I can’t see that a platform mount would work In this case...if it’s as thin as tissue paper as the op suggests - I don’t think it would be able to support its own weight and it would crumple.
Encapsulation I think is your only option, either Mylar or acrylic sandwich...if you’re worried about reflection, you could always sandwich between two sheets of Optium!
I would probably go the encapsulation route. You can fully support the piece and no adhesives come into contact with the artwork. The main drawback is the gloss finish, the effect will depend on the lighting but once it’s under glass (depending on the glass) it’s not so noticeable. I recently did a piece for Larson Juhl’s 4 Walls magazine showing the technique that you might find useful.
Jon Price (GCF) did a hinging demo last year in Stratford. He showed a technique where you use lengths of your preferred tape folded in half at the top, bottom and sides which are secured at the corners, out of sight under the mount. Hard to explain, I'll post a pic if I can find it.
There are many types of paper that can be used for making hinges. You did not specify the weight of the paper used for making the art or the weight of hinge papers you have.
I have an assortment of paper used for making hinges that ranges from 7.5 to 45 gms. The lightest (thinnest) is Tengujo M.M. Paper made from 100% Kozo.
Personally I would politely decline this job as something will go wrong! I have taken on things out of my comfort zone and had sleepless nights turning over different scenarios in my head! Practice on something similar until you are confident in the method to use.
Interests: Paper cutting artist for 12 years, used a Logan 655 for about 6 years (don’t shoot me....) to mount my own work. Interested in framing and mounting methodology.
Might I ask, what size artwork does this method allows up to or can you theoretically use it for all sizes of artwork? There was a further link to “Grumbles” referencing it on the older link but it says “page unavailable” so I couldn’t find out..
. Please can you help me so I can sound like I know what I'm talking about. 
