Agents of Deterioration

Agents of Deterioration is a choral performance by artists Maia Chao and Ethan Philbrick in response to the Museum's 50th-anniversary permanent collection exhibition, Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860–1960. Considering the museum’s role in preserving artwork for future generations, the performance samples the language of art conservation in a meditation on permanence, loss, and the fragility of the future within times of ecological and political crisis. Art conservators define agents of deterioration as types of forces that cause objects to deteriorate. For conservators, there are ten primary agents of deterioration: physical forces, thieves and vandals, fire, water, pests, pollutants, light, temperature, humidity, and custodial neglect. For this performance, Chao and Philbrick collaborate with young vocalists from the Children's Chorus of Washington D.C. to create a sonic guided tour that will lead museum visitors through the exhibit while performing a series of deteriorating choral pieces.