Shipping Art

I've recently been moving art around the country and thought it would be good to explain a bit about how I get it from my studio to its new home, specifically for other sculptors and art collectors who have to get their stuff from here to there.  

Lets start by talking about crating and packaging sculpture for someone else to transport.  There are a ton of great tutorials on the web about how to do this for paintings -- sculpture follows the same principles with a few modifications.  Ideally we'd have a team of white-gloved butlers that could hand-carry valuable artwork to its destination, but the reality is that unless you drive it yourself, it will be handled by a bunch of busy folks driving forklifts and 18 wheelers who don't know if there's a set of Ming dynasty vases in their cargo or American Apparel t-shirts.  

Given that we need to protect our artwork, I actually enjoy the process of making the crates that my work travels in -- it is part of the theater of owning, releasing, and accepting artwork in to our lives.  Just like those suitcases from the 30's covered in travel stickers and the warehouse scene at the end of Indiana Jones, a good crate can tell part of a story.

If you'd like, many shipping companies will pick up and crate your work for you.  Give your local respected gallery a call and see who they use.  This is a more expensive option, but saves time especially if you have a whole suite of work to send to a show or an enthusiastic collector.  Some will require they package the work for you to be able to get insurance on it (get the insurance.  Trust me.), and some will tell you their requirements then inspect your packaging when you bring it to them.

A good package will protect against several dangers:

Gross impacts (getting dropped, stuff dropped on it, bumps from other packages and trucks with little suspension).  If you have especially delicate work (glass art, ceramics, etc), check that the trucks used have air-ride suspension.  I use 2" foam on the inside of my crates as well. A box-within-a-box, separated by packing peanuts or something similar will work too.

plywood panels with insulation prepared for the crate sides

Abrasion (from the work shifting inside the crate as well as other things rubbing against the crate during transport).  I fix my work to the crate itself, although this may not be appropriate for some media where shocks will crack or dismantle your work.  The table in this example is made from 3/8" steel plate, so I'm not worried about shocks as much.  I use a thin foam padding and plastic packaging wrap to protect the finish.

Table affixed to the bottom of the crate to prevent shifting/abrasion against the inside

 Punctures. These usually come from forklifts and pallet jacks used to move the crates on and off loading docks and trucks.  Generally speaking, if your work + crate is more than 100lbs or unweildy size-wise, fix it to a pallet so that the skids can slide underneath easily.  This is the damage I've heard most about from other artists and the reason why I don't like using cardboard boxes for my work.  I also make handles using climbing webbing and washers so that it is easier to carry by hand and to folks moving it are less temped to shove a pallet jack underneath.

 

Handles to ease transport

 Moisture.  Generally it will come from two directions -- above (rain, stuff above it breaking) and below (spills, wet/snowy dock floors).  The plastic wrap mentioned above helps, although it is important to leave some cracks in the plastic wrap so that you don't get condensation as your work changes temperature/altitude in its travels.  A good shipping company will protect it from rain, and I build the crate on a slight rise so that if it does get set in a puddle nothing gets wet but the bottom of the crate.

Skids to keep the crate off the ground/away from moisture

Getting lost.  Stuff gets misplaced, even with the official labels that get put on it.  I always include my full address/telephone/email as well as the recipient's on a sheet inside the crate.  In addition, a bunch of 'UP' and 'Fragile' stencils (just make sure you don't put them on backwards  . . .) make the crate more recognizable and generally cool-looking.