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Designs Ink Publishing Article Archive and Reference Library
Articles by Chris A. Paschke, CPF GCF CMG
"Hinge and Floated Art"
December 2004
The
artwork being framed often designates the hinging and framing designs to best
showcase it. Deckled, torn, uneven, or naturally feathered edges call for items
not to have their edges covered or otherwise hidden by window mats. There are a
number of hinging variations that allows for the full 100% visual exposure to all
edges of the art: V-hinges, pass-through or S-hinges; pedestal or wrapped
hinges; and Mylar encapsulation (photo
1).
V-HINGES
Since
there is always a window mat of some kind used in conjunction with T- or
pendant hinges, the rice paper supports are hidden from sight. When full view to the very outer edges of the
art is called for the hinge support system must remain out of sight behind the
art. V-hinges are a hidden version of a pendant hinge illustrated last month in
"Hinge Basics".
A
feathered or wet separated rice paper hinge is adhered to the verso side of the
artwork using starch paste (diagram 1).
Apply the starch to the upper ¼" of the hinge strip, allow to lightly dry
until the sheen is gone, then align the hinge onto the back top edge (verso)
side of the art. This time the hinge should be set right at the top edge of the
art. This type of hinge will only work for art with a straight or nearly
straight top edge. Unevenness across the top of the art, or setting the hinge
too low away from the edge will not allow the art to be turned face down during
the hinging process.
After
the hinge has dried, attach the face down art to the backing board by
moistening with paste and lightly smoothing the wet hinge to remove air and
feather the edges. Place a small piece of spun polyester (Pelon) over the moist
hinge, then a dry blotter followed by a weight and let set.
REINFORCED V-HINGE
Where
the T-hinge has an extraordinary potential for weight bearing with superior
T-peel and shear strength, the V-hinge sacrifices that strength for being
invisibly hidden behind the art. A V-hinge should always be reinforced with a
horizontal cross piece to prevent it from peeling off by gravity and the weight
of the art it is hanging (diagram 2).
As
with T-hinges, the reinforced horizontal strip applied over the adhered V-hinge
may be of rice paper, p-s or gummed paper tape (photo 2). Unlike the pendant hinge, they are often placed
horizontally with the length of the hinge pasted to the art rather than
vertically with the width or narrowest portion attached to the art.
S-HINGES
Whether
called, S-hinge, pass through, folded, suspension tab, or concealed pendant
hinge, they are all names for the same type of hinging process, one that allows
the art to visually float in the center of the frame. These hinges are mounted on
one end to the back of the art while the other is fed through the backing board and mounted to the back of the mounting
board.
The
S-hinge is first mounted to the verso side of the art and allowed to dry. Slots
are cut in the backing board at the proper position just slightly wider than
the hinge. The sharp paper edges of the 4 ply board should be rounded to
prevent cutting of the rice paper hinges either when they are being passed
through or during handling of the framed image. Then they are fitted through
the slots (photo 3) and glued to the
back of the mount board out of sight.
As
with the above V-hinge, the basic pasted pendant S-hinge is subject to peel
failure if the frame is rotated or mishandled and the weight of the art is
allowed to pull against the hinge, peeling it off. Therefore, the S-hinge should be reinforced
with a horizontal cross pieces like the T- or reinforced V-hinge.
JUMBO HINGES
Another
option to help with reinforcing a thin hinge is creating a jumbo hinge. The
jumbo hinge is a bit of a hybrid in that it is a standard strip of mulberry
rice paper that has been wet feathered 1" wide and 4-6" long. It is folded
at its midpoint and glued with starch paste together to create a double thick
hinge. The last ¼" ends are left unglued and flared out into a T shape for
mounting to the art (photo 4).
Jumbo
hinges work well with this S-hinge technique because they reinforce the rice
paper and help prevent tearing at the actual pass through points of the 4 ply
boards. Depending on the actual weight of the floated art, and because of their
added strength, jumbo hinges may not
require a horizontal cross piece to reinforce the hold.
PEDESTAL HINGES
(also called Z-tack hinge)
Pedestal,
wrapped, or float hinges are all names for the same technique. They are a hinge
process that allows free floating of artwork mounted to a raised pedestal or
platform surface which in turn is what is fused to the backing board. Backing boards may be fabric covered or plain
mat board, in any thickness from 4 ply to ½", though 4 ply, 8 ply are most
common for preservation.
The
featured Bunnies sampler is an open edition 3-D paper sculpture 4-1/2"x
4"x 1/4", being framed floated for educational demonstration, so the
platform is a 3/16" acid free foam board rather than rag (photo 5). The photo illustrates the
depth of the wrapped float which requires a deeper beveled mat (nearly
5/8" deep) and frame to accommodate the floated image.
The
platform is reverse bevel cut smaller than the art so it will not be visible at
the edge, and the sharp corners of the bevel edges have been rounded to soften and
remove the sharp paper edge. Hinges are pasted to the back of the art, weighted
and allowed to dry. The dried hinges are then pasted around the smoothed edges
of the top of the platform (diagram
4).
Hinges
may or may not be placed at the bottom or sides of a platform to help secure
it, but never snugly, as the art must be allowed to move through natural
expansion and contraction (photo 6).
The hinges at the bottom of the sample are overkill on this piece because of
its small size, but were a necessity on the completed original African mask painting
on 100% kozo paper (photo 7).
This
piece was single matted with Alpharag 8675 Heather Brown and backed with the
same. Modified Asian proportions were used for spacing at top and bottom of
this 11"x31" original to help maintain the elongation of the paper in
this design. The detail corner of the
mask shows the uneven feathered and deckled edges of the paper having been
floated over an 8 ply Alpharag pedestal placed in the deep frame with a
3/8" spacer under the mat which was faced with matching Alpharag (photo 8).
It
was completed with TruVue Conservation glass, in a 16"x38" Larson
Juhl Java moulding #300240 that had been lined with Lineco Rabbet Sealing Tape
and finished with Lineco backing paper. We must always remember that
preservation (conservation, museum) framing means using accepted preservation
materials and practices at ever stage of the framing process.
FLOATED
ENCAPSULATION
Encapsulation
is the process of placing a delicate image between two pieces of clear Mylar
polyester or archival quality polypropylene so that both sides may be viewed
without handling the actual art. By trapping a delicate item in an envelope or
between sheets with sealed edges the art is supported, preserved, the mounting
is reversible, is viewable from both sides, and may be floated to showcase the
art to its outermost edges (photo 9).
Encapsulated
art may be backed with a contrasting color backing board or fabric for better
viewing of irregular edges or when there is no margin. As a design option, this
format may be used to allow for the framing to pick up the pattern of the
wallpaper or faux finished wall behind it (photo
10). It may also be floated between two matching window mats in a recto
verso presentation simply to allow for viewing from both sides.
The
double window mat is hinged along the longest side of the mat unit with a
gummed or pressure-sensitive flange hinge the full length of the mat for better
support (photo 11). The Mylar envelope
is attached to the inner window by a pressure-sensitive flange hinge across the
entire top to help keep the polyester from buckling. This process may be used
more for archival storage than framing for wall display, unless it is to be
double framed for two sided viewing potential.
HINGE REMOVAL
The
removal technique is quite simple for Japanese or starch paste hinges. Remove
the hinged art from its backing or platform by cutting the unpasted portion of
the hinges and place it face down on a protected, clean surface. Lightly dampen
the small hinge that remains on the back of the art with distilled or filtered
water and a small soft brush. Wait a bit and carefully attempt to lift the
softened hinge from the back of the artwork, but do not pull on it. If the
hinge does not easily peel from the art apply a little more water and try
again. Once removed, cover the moistened portion of the art with spun
polyester/Pelon, a clean blotter and a weight to let dry.
HINGE REVIEW
What
better way to end another year of framing than with two months of hinging
review? Hopefully all of this is just a polishing of what you already know, but
it is always good revisit and confirm what we already know. Times change as do
materials and practices. It's not so very long ago we still used masking tape
for hinging. I remember those days.
END
PHOTO 1 ALL FLOATED HINGES
All
of the samples are floated in the photo, all suing different techniques to show
the entire piece of art. Upper right
corner is a V-hinge, upper left is a pass through or S-hinge, bottom center
uses hinges over a platform or pedestal float.
PHOTO 2 V-HINGE
The
V-hinge is similar to a pendant hinge but is placed on the back of the art and
folded back onto itself (left hinge). If reinforced with a cross piece it is
drastically strengthened (right hinge).
PHOTO 3 PASS THROUGH OR S-HINGE
A
pass through hinge is fitted through a slot that has been cut into the 4 ply
backing board for affixing to the back of the mount board out of sight. The
photo shows the rice paper hinge, already glued to the art with starch paste,
after it has been fed through the prepared slot in the backing for adhering to
the back side.
PHOTO 4 JUMBO HINGE
The
hinge to the right has been securely pasted to the backing as it would to the
backing board in a pass through hinge set up. The hinge laying beneath shows a
readied pre-pasted jumbo hinge with its T shaped flange ready to be mounted to
the artwork of choice.
PHOTO 5 PLATFORM RABBITS
This
is actually a work in progress shot prior to completion, hence the raw stacked
foam board deep bevel mat. The small 4-1/2"x4"x¼" three
dimensional paper sculpture has been wrap hinged for added depth and intrigue.
The foam mats still need to be wrapped and topped with a rag mat prior to
fitting into this 9-1/2"x9" Designer #49-13 gold metal frame.
PHOTO 6 WRAPPED HINGES (BACK
DETAIL)
The
hinges are loosely attached on the bottom to prevent the sculpture from pulling
if turned over or inverted during handling. The top hinges are snug to the top
edge of the platform that has been rounded at hinge point to prevent the hinges
from being cut by the sharp edge of the
platform.
PHOTO 7 AFRICAN MASK SAMPLE
Here
is a completed framed sample using the platform wrapped hinge technique. Framed 16"x38", original artwork on
100% kozo paper with four deckle edges 11"x31" single matted with and
floated over Alpharag 8674 Heather Brown.
Art is mounted with wrapped hinges over an 8 ply pedestal created from
rag fallouts. Original artwork by Chris
A. Paschke.
PHOTO 8 MASK DETAIL
This
corner detail better illustrates the floated nature and depth of the framed art
image.
PHOTO 9 FLOATED ENCAPULATION
By
trapping an item between two sheets of Mylar polyester with sealed edges the art
may be floated so that all the outer edges are visible. Notice the gray carpet is visible around the
outer edge of the mat as well as surrounding the artwork.
PHOTO 10 SEE THROUGH POSSIBILITIES
Encapsulated
art may be backed with a contrasting color backing board or may be used to
allow for the framing to pick up the pattern on the wall behind it. The bamboo
window shade shows the possibilities of using the pattern as part of the
framing design.
PHOTO 11 FLOATED ENCAPSULATION – OPEN
MAT
The
double window mat is hinged along the longest side of the mat unit with gummed
or pressure-sensitive linen tape as a flange hinge the full length of the
mat. Another flange runs across the top
of the envelope with a paper tape.
For more articles on mounting basics
look under the mounting section in
Articles by Subject.
Additional information on all types
of mounting is found in
The Mounting and Laminating
Handbook, Second Edition, 2002,
and
The Mounting And Laminating
Handbook, Third Edition, 2008.
Creative Mounting, Wrapping, And
Laminating, 2000 will teach you everything you
need to know
about getting the most from your dry
mount equipment and materials as an innovative frame designer.
All books are available from Designs
Ink Publishing through this website.
Chris A Paschke, CPF GCF
Designs Ink
Designs Ink Publishing
785 Tucker Road, Suite G-183
Tehachapi, CA 93561
661.821.2188
info@designsinkart.com