Huge outdoor canvas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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CAframer

CAframer

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Posts
3,834
Loc
Orange County, CA
Received an amazing call this morning .....

This fellow calls up ... has a 16 FEET x 8 FEET original oil on canvas (not stretched) that he wants to hang OUTSIDE his office (permanently)!!!!! He says it's valuable!!!!!

He says they have thought about some of the problems such as temperature changes (say 40s - 90s), wind, etc. (no kidding!!!) so they figured they wouldn't stretch the canvas but instead sandwich the oil between a plexi front and aluminum back gluing the sides with silicone to seal out moisture then pop a frame around it and screw the whole thing to the building to prevent theft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmmmmm! "Has he thought about making a photographic billboard style copy so that he can keep his canvas safe?" says I quick as a flash. "No he hadn't thought of that but would prefer to hang the original outside!"

It's HIGHLY unlikely that I would ever want to tackle such a project! Obviously the issues are immense. Stretching something this big, avoiding condensation / ventilating, insuring adequate airspace versus tendency of plexi to bow, UV considerations, etc. etc.. But I figured I would ask if anyone has run across anything similar, or has any thoughts on how theoretically you might handle something like this.
 
Run Andrew, run!

The guy is asking you to make a sealed container with a semipermeable membrane. The acrylic is not gas impermeable. It may take a long time, but it won't be a true sealed package, and it will require constant and prolonged maintenance.

It would probably be cheaper to build an addition to the building where it is to be displayed and put in a huge plate glass window.
 
Originally posted by wpfay:
Run Andrew, run!

It would probably be cheaper to build an addition to the building where it is to be displayed and put in a huge plate glass window.
Click to expand...
LOL, how true!

Maybe a mausoleum or even a museum is cheaper!
 
I was just going to type RUN after I read the first post but now it would just seem silly.

Take the job then commision a painter to paint the artwork directly on the building. Double the painters fee and then keep the original artwork.

There used to be a building in Florida that had no windows until someone painted them on. I think it had around 8-10 stories.
I used to have a picture of it but it had an old girlfriend posing in front of it and her replacement threw it out when I wasn't home.
 
Originally posted by JbNormandog:


There used to be a building in Florida that had no windows until someone painted them on. I think it had around 8-10 stories.
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It was eleven actually, but that's another storey!
 
Beyond running (which in the sense you mean I am certainly doing), what practical advice would you give this fellow?

So far I like two ideas:

(a) My immediate thought of making a huge photographic billboard enlargement

(b)Wally's notion of displaying it from within the building behind a large plate glass window.

Does anyone have any other practical strategies? If not let's run (no pun intended) with these two notions.

(a) Who would you contact to shoot / print / mount a 16' x 8' image?

(b) Assuming they want to go to the expense of building a suitable plate glass window, how would you stretch this monster? And where would you source suitably long moulding? Fosters?
 
There are billboard companies. This is what they do. We are framers. We don't know these things. Even 'brainstorming' could be considered professional advice and come back to bite you.... Run, run fast, run away away away!
 
As Wally said, the acrylic is permeable and if the
climate is damp, it will begin to warp immediately, away from the painting. If things get
dry, the acrylic will warp in toward the painting. In either case, the seal at the edge of
the package you described, is likely to be broken
by the warping of the acrylic. Follow your grumblers' advice and let them make their mistakes, without you.


Hugh
 
Andrew, as hard as it is sometimes to JUST SAY NO, I agree with everyone here...JUST SAY NO THANKS! That sounds like a huge headache/disaster waiting to happen. Attempting it anyway just for the sake of saying "I told you so!" isn't worth the "challenge" ( aka Paininthebutt) or the time it will take away from your successful framing projects. Even taking the time to figure out how, is wasting your precious time.

I think Ellen's billboard company idea sounds like a good one, but let Mr. Giant Canvas Guy talk to them, not you.

Step AWAY from the monster canvas...it would eat you alive, swallow you whole, and then...
vomit.gif
(hey, my first time using the barfy! Couldn't resist!)
 
Lebron in NY can make the stretchers. I have stretched canvases bigger than that and they all used Lebron hardware and stretchers or at least the technology Lebron invented. They use knock-down hardware as a tensioner. James (Jimmy) Lebron, the founder of the company, passed away last year, but I would assume the business is still going strong. (718)274-0532

I was kinda kidding about the building addition, but it could work. The important part being that the climate inside the display is controlled, and the exposure to light is minimal. I'm thinking something akin to a giant bay window...
 
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