Open Forum

I am working with an artist for an installation for my museum. He would like to paint our floors. I was wondering if anyone knew a safe and effective way to paint wood floors that could be easily removed after the exhibition. We plan on letting visitors walk on these floors. Thank you!

------------------------------
Heather Hakimzadeh
Curator
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
Virginia Beach VA
------------------------------

Last year, the museum I work for recreated a floor artwork by a living artist utilizing heavy duty vinyl with an adhesive film (imagine the same concept used for vinyl wall lettering but applied on the floor).  The artist provided a digital file with her composition / design, which was shared with the company that produces and installs the museum's exhibition signage.  The vinyl was strong enough to withstand foot traffic and regular cleaning with a damp mop. It was then relatively easy to remove the vinyl from the floor and left no adhesive residue (multiple sections of vinyl were applied to the floor).  Ask the artist about using vinyl and reaching out to a local signage company.  If this is an option for the artist, I would recommend that very small maquettes using different finishes -- matte, glossy -- are made and applied to similar wood flooring to make sure it will adhere well, but can then be removed.

Hope this is helpful.

Noel Valentin / nvalentin@elmuseo.org

------------------------------
Noel Valentin
Permanent Collections Manager
El Museo del Barrio
New York NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-04-2017 11:30 AM
From: Heather Hakimzadeh
Subject: Removing paint from wood floors

I am working with an artist for an installation for my museum. He would like to paint our floors. I was wondering if anyone knew a safe and effective way to paint wood floors that could be easily removed after the exhibition. We plan on letting visitors walk on these floors. Thank you!

------------------------------
Heather Hakimzadeh
Curator
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
Virginia Beach VA
------------------------------

Hi Heather,

Have you considered a floor graphic instead of painting the floor? The artist would create the floor painting at scale and it could be digitally enlarged and produced. It's a much different process than painting directly in the gallery, but a lot easier to remove.  It might be possible to apply the floor graphic material and paint on that but you'd have to test adhesion, etc. as well as how well the vinyl would come off your floors at the end of the exhibit. 

Lisa

------------------------------
Lisa Friedlander
Project Specialist
Minnesota Historical Society
Saint Paul MN
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-04-2017 11:30 AM
From: Heather Hakimzadeh
Subject: Removing paint from wood floors

I am working with an artist for an installation for my museum. He would like to paint our floors. I was wondering if anyone knew a safe and effective way to paint wood floors that could be easily removed after the exhibition. We plan on letting visitors walk on these floors. Thank you!

------------------------------
Heather Hakimzadeh
Curator
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
Virginia Beach VA
------------------------------

Would you consider laying down an auxiliary floor surface (e.g. canvas, plywood, laminate board, etc.), and painting that instead? At the end of the exhibition you would need only to deinstall the auxiliary floor surface, rather than attempting to fully remove paint, which would require sanding, stripping, or both. These processes spend your HVC systems and filtration, and they are time intensive.

------------------------------
Valentine Talland
Conservation Consultant
Valentine Talland Art Conservation LLC
Cambridge, MA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-04-2017 11:30 AM
From: Heather Hakimzadeh
Subject: Removing paint from wood floors

I am working with an artist for an installation for my museum. He would like to paint our floors. I was wondering if anyone knew a safe and effective way to paint wood floors that could be easily removed after the exhibition. We plan on letting visitors walk on these floors. Thank you!

------------------------------
Heather Hakimzadeh
Curator
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
Virginia Beach VA
------------------------------

Hello,
You may want to review this site. I found this for a different project but have never applied it myself.

http://www.tempaint.com/

This can be applied to cars, I am not certain about wood.

Plasti Dip® - PLASTI DIP®

Plasti Dip is like spray paint but instead of paint it lays down a rubberized coating that can theoretically be peeled off without damaging whatever you blasted it on.

Plasti Dip doesn't require a scuff, sand or do any other normal paint-prep procedure other than an intensive clean (and maybe masking) before putting it on. The reversibility of the stuff really drops the stakes of DIY-car decoration and it's become pretty popular with people who like t, play with cars.

Nobody has capitalized on this fad more than Fonzie at DipYourCar.com, who has tons of solid tutorial videos on how to use the stuff with convenient links on where to buy everything you see in use. Just don't forget he's also selling the stuff, so check out some independent review videos too if you're thinking about giving this spray-stuff a try.

Good Luck.
Lisa

------------------------------
Lisa Beck
Project Manager
Petersen Automotive Museum
Los Angeles CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-04-2017 11:30 AM
From: Heather Hakimzadeh
Subject: Removing paint from wood floors

I am working with an artist for an installation for my museum. He would like to paint our floors. I was wondering if anyone knew a safe and effective way to paint wood floors that could be easily removed after the exhibition. We plan on letting visitors walk on these floors. Thank you!

------------------------------
Heather Hakimzadeh
Curator
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
Virginia Beach VA
------------------------------