The conservation of contemporary art should not be a static process carried out behind closed doors but dynamic and open to discourse. New media and new materials constantly present issues which traditional conservation methods cannot address and a continual search for new techniques is therefore required. This dynamic research may include interviews with artists; documentation of artists' materials; the recording of image, word or sound of performances, installations, temporary and 'permanent' visual art; scientific research into the identification, composition, ageing and preservation of modern materials.<BR>This volume makes a most important contribution to the ongoing debate by presenting the conservation challenges relating to ten objects of different media and materials (plastics, kinetic objects, monochromes and works of mixed media) of considerable art-historical value. The ten selected studies include the works of Jean Tinguley, Piero Manzoni, Tony Cragg and Mario Merz. In addition to case studies, this volume includes symposium papers by art historians, physicists, philosophers, artists, conservators and critics on topics as varied as: accidental damage; working with artists; packing and transport; installation; identifying plastics; ethics, training, databases etc.