Fine Art Shipping » Packing

Red crates on the march! Miles Davis exhibition to Brazil

Betsy — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:17:04 +0000

On the road again...

After wildly successful outings at the Cite de la Musique in Paris and at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Miles Davis Exhibition is headed for Brazil. Scheduled to open in the next week or so, the exhibition showcases a remarkably diverse collection of musical memorabilia, scores, trumpets, synthesizers, artworks and even Miles’ personal boxing bag. Not to mention stage outfits which are quintessential Miles and as sparkling and distinctive today as ever.

FINE ART SHIPPING is pleased once again to handle loans to the show for Miles Davis Properties — nothing we like better than the chance to view these legendary artifacts and send them off to discover new and old fans around the world.

We wish the organizers, Foro Sul, all the best for a great opening. We’ll pass along updated information here as to future travels of the show and reviews of the Brazil exhibition when available. Viva Miles!

Painted crates pay tribute to Miles Davis famous "red trumpet" -- always a crowd favorite

Betsy Dorfman

Crate of the month club

Betsy — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:01:49 +0000

Crates come in all sizes.

This one is from our “extra bedroom” series.

Looks like we might need that handy expand- a-truck tool…

Just another day at the office.

Oops — the big crate that couldn’t

Betsy — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:44:47 +0000

Fit through the door, that is.

Check out this video:

There’s lots of chatter in the art handling blogosphere (yes, there is one) today thanks to a posting of this video on You Tube. Much commentary along the lines of how this has happened to every art handler at some time or another, which it likely has. In most cases, thankfully, sans police, photographers, and marching band…

However there is a concept we like to call “reverse logistics” or back to front planning, which can help avoid these problems in many cases. This starts by finding out up front what is going to happen to the shipment at the destination.

What type of building is it going into. Office building? Residence? Museum or gallery? Loading dock or not? Will it need to fit into an elevator? Does it have to fit through a doorway or what is the smallest point of access that needs to be negotiated en route to the final resting place of the goods?

If the right questions are asked in most instances the solution can be built in at the front of the job, by using crate and package specs that conform to conditions at the receiving end.

We haven’t been privy to the next chapter of this delivery. Unless there was alternate access to that building, Plan B would be to unpack the crate in the street, and hope that the travel frame or other package(s) within will fit through the door. This isn’t best in terms of safety for the artworks, but this is any port in a tempest time, clearly.

The doorway size isn’t the only issue seen here.

If there was a very valuable artwork in that crate, which is most likely the case given the fanfare over its arrival, then clearly a better overall receiving plan needed to be made.

Using a pallet jack and bumping the crate over cobblestones isn’t recommended. Better to put down a masonite or plywood runway or have enough manpower to lift the crate and carry it. There also aren’t half enough “hands on” the crate as it comes off the truck – 2 guys isn’t enough to be absolutely sure the crate can’t tilt or tip over. Even if they’re just “spotting” the crate, extra hands show you care.

This might be every art handlers nightmare come to life – the big reception, the towering crate, the looming medieval doorway at the end of the cobbled alley. And to top it off to be You Tubed –this has to be a very special modern ring of Hades.

Our sympathies, guys.

Betsy Dorfman

DOCUMENTED UNPACKING – a quick look

Betsy — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:36:04 +0000

When shipments arrive that are insured by others it is vital to open and inspect the contents to make sure that damage has not occurred during shipping and handling. That’s pretty much common sense.

So you open the crate or box, remove any obscuring packing material, and reveal the artwork. If it’s OK, you are lucky. Because if it isn’t OK, you have already made a mess of the job. In forensic terms, you have compromised the crime scene. How? By not carefully documenting the condition of the crate and contents at each stage of the unpacking.

Sometimes called “documented unpacking” the process requires that at least two observers be present during the opening process and that photos are taken at each stage of the procedure. We often end up with 60 or more photos, so thank goodness for digital photography. Photos show the condition of the crate from the outside before any work is done, and then each stage of the opening procedure thereafter.

As the photo at left demonstrates, the documented inspection process also serves to protect the interests of the company or personnel doing the unpacking. In this case we show that we are indeed opening the correct side of the crate as marked.

Many artworks have been damaged by recipients inadvertently opening the incorrect side of a crate. So you want to document that you have followed any and all unpacking instructions, thus demonstrating that any damage found within was not due to incorrect handling on arrival.

Photos also show interior packing of the crate, materials used, and location of the art with relation to the side of the crate or enclosure. You look to see that there is adequate space and/or foam or other “buffer” between the contents and any rigid portion of the crate or packaging. The type, thickness, and location of the internal packing materials seen also serves to document the care taken by the sender/packer and to mitigate, if they are adequate, liability of the sender for damage due to insufficient packing or poor choice of materials. Packing materials are saved until it is clear that all parties to the shipment have signed off on the arrival condition and that there are no claims issues pending.

In this case we don’t have permission of the owner to show the artwork involved, so the photos will stop short of actually revealing the artwork in the crate pictured. But normally your photo sequence would include a full set of photos of the artwork once uncovered. And with close-ups taken of any problem or suspected areas of possible damage.

A buddy and a digital camera can also be your best ally when receiving any sort of packaged item shipped through freight or the mail, especially if valuable. In the event of any apparent damage,always, always, save the packing materials. The web has sad stories aplenty of consumers who have tossed the packaging on damaged goods upon the advice of the shipping company, only to have the claim denied later by that same company on the basis that, yes, the materials were not available for inspection. Having a photo documentary of your unpacking experience and damage found should also go a long way towards getting you a successful resolution to your claim, assuming you insured the shipment in the first place.

In most cases, professionally packed goods arrive in excellent condition. But you never know which will be the exception. And and if you wait until the artwork is exposed to begin documenting, you may be chasing the proverbial horse that has already denied the claim.

Betsy Dorfman

Mysteries of Art Handling Revealed — part 2 !

Betsy — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:06:09 +0000

Ian Patrick, crating manager

Mysteries of Art Handling Revealed !

Betsy — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:50:31 +0000

Ian Patrick, Crating Manager

Oct 22, 2010

Our favorite package to date !!

Betsy — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:40:00 +0000

FINE ART SHIPPING welcomes a granddaughter!!

Emery Dorfman, born July 11 in Seattle WA

As you can see, the packaging for this product has been designed with great attention to safety, style, and utility for re-use. The most vulnerable points of the object are wrapped in suitably soft and archival material, then further bundled into an appropriate shape to secure the item within the selected vehicle of conveyance. Where appropriate, additional measures have been taken to mitigate environmental exposures, particularly in the top or “head” region.

As is recommended, a minimum of 2″ of foam padding is employed at the sides, top, and bottom of the enclosure to further protect the shipment in transit. Also included but not seen, certain moisture barrier strategies have been incorporated into the interior packaging where prudent, and based on long established guidelines for care of such commodities.

Further updates will follow as the shipment is expected to increase in size and weight over time.

Betsy Dorfman

Packing a Bertoia sound sculpture

Betsy — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:06:12 +0000

What has dozens of steel quills and makes a surprisingly lovely sound as you walk toward it? It’s an elegant steel sculpture by Italian artist and furniture designer Harry Bertoia (1915-1978), and it was my distinct pleasure as the new crating manager to pack it this week. As a recovering sculptor myself, I take particular delight in Bertoia’s lively, indeed musical, use of industrial materials and their properties.

This piece, an assortment of slender steel rods welded to a rectangular plate in a somewhat pitched “V” formation, was certainly handsome enough to look at, but the real surprise revealed itself as I stepped closer and heard the rustle of the steel rods, making a sound like brushes on a cymbal; sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…

From a crating perspective, the fragility of the piece posed certain challenges. The sculpture had come to us with an extant injury (one of the rods had fallen loose from the plate), and I wanted to ensure that the packing put only minimal stress on the welds. This meant no compression – nothing on top to flex the rods. Capturing the base was therefore the way to go, so I devised a system of padded yokes which fit together like a 3D puzzle, grasping the piece from its sturdiest point. To keep the rods from trembling in transit, I gently bundled them together and grasped with a sliding foam collar.

Packing of complex sculpture has always been one of my favorite aspects of this job. It offers the art enthusiast in me a chance to commune with works of sculpture in a very tactile way, and allows me to show of my own chops as a craftsman. The little rustling Bertoia was my favorite kind of project… pretty good day at the office!

Ian Patrick for FINE ART SHIPPING

Artwork from the collection of David K. Pressman

Fun with paper: shipping Greg Lauren’s “Alterations”

Betsy — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:24:30 +0000

Congratulations to L.A. artist Greg Lauren for a terrific write up in the L.A. Times on his current exhibition. We had fun at the opening Saturday night, especially watching the double takes done by (typically well heeled) passers by on Beverly Boulevard. Who could be forgiven for mistaking the show for, well, what it actually looked like: the opening of a super chic men’s boutique. Complete with valet and champagne service and more than a few celebrity sightings.

We’ve packed and shipped these paper art sculptures a number of times, and while obviously the weight is not an issue, keeping the “clothing” intact and with wrinkles only where the artist wants them is a challenge. We’ve shipped them on and off the mannequins, making use of archival paper and good old dish pack boxes and the odd slat crate with good results.

My husband’s brother tells the story of lecturing on a cruise ship where the headline lecturer was a memory expert. The many elderly passengers aboard were constantly cozying up to this guy and asking for tips on how to remember pesky things like names and telephone numbers. They figured he would have clever mnemonic devices to offer. His advice instead: try harder and pay attention.

Similarly, often the best art handling “trick” is to pay attention, keep it simple, and try hard to recognize and respect the integrity of the objects in front of you. This approach worked well with respect to Greg Lauren’s host of perfectly imperfect faux garments. And, yes, we did have to resist the impulse to try them on.

Betsy Dorfman

Sale of Michael Crichton artworks — goodbye old friends!

Betsy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:09:52 +0000

Recent news reports have detailed the upcoming sale of artworks from the Michael Crichton collection, currently on display at Christie’s in London. The paintings to be sold include a seminal work from the Jasper Johns “Flag” series, as well as works by Picasso, Lichtenstein and Rauschenberg . Old friends all.

FINE ART SHIPPING has moved, installed, shipped and stored many of these works over the past decade-plus for the Crichton family. Packing and crating these recent few to send off for display in London was an exercise in nostalgia to be sure. We have softpacked the Johns for Mr. Crichton to carry on an airplane, installed it at residences in New York and Los Angeles, and each time we handled it was a thrill. The office emptied out, art handlers mysteriously appeared as the crate was about to be opened — there are artworks which claim their own audiences, and this is one.

On September 11, 2001 our Los Angeles based crew was packing art at the Crichton residence in upstate New York, some 90 miles from ground zero. We were immediately invited to stay in the home for several days, allowing us to give our hotel rooms to our NY based crew, who were unable in those early days and hours to return to the city. So this goes beyond a business relationship, to what has been a partnership of care and concern for this art over many years and circumstances.
Following the current exhibition at Christie’s the artworks go on sale in New York in May. To the new owners we can only say: may the vibes, all good, be with you.

Betsy Dorfman