Electric Echoes: Conserving Chryssa’s Black-Light Sculptures

This paper examines the restoration of two black-light sculptures, Study for the Gates #14 (Clytemnestra) from “Iphigenia in Aulis” by Euripedes (1967) and Study for the Gates #15 (“a flock of morning birds” from “Iphigenia in Aulis” by Euripedes) (1967), by the artist Chryssa, as a case study in conserving light-based artworks made with materials and techniques reduced to obsolescence. The restoration process demanded more than replicating components; it required rebuilding the infrastructures that made the works possible and negotiating between preservation and re-creation, permanence and ephemerality. The authors share their experience as a cautionary example, describing the urgent need for conservation strategies that address the accelerating disappearance of neon materials and technologies, as well as the skills producing them.