Damien Hirst Shark isn't ageless?

The June 29 issue of the New York Times art section has several articles on art conservation.

One, "Dead Shark Not Aging Well" is about "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991". To confuse all not versed in what this could possibly mean, it is this: a dead shark in fluid in glass.
Purchased by Saatchi for 11+,000,000 the fliud is becoming murky now. Hirst company known as Science Ltd. has assured all interested parties that "Damien will happily help to refurbish" the piece.
Luckily, according to Gagosian who landed the deal, replacing the shark with another one will not alter the piece since it is conceptual. phew!! - I was worried there for a minute.
Good thing Hirst has a company to take care of that. I think every artist should have a company.....I like the idea of it, so what.

There are other articles too - about the Whitney's conservator, Carol Mancusi-Ungaro and about Donald Judd's work that was deemed by the artist as ruined when the museum repainted it.....wha???
Why did the museum repaint a piece without the artists involvement? Again, good thing that Hirst has a company to take care of that for him. The museum made good by repainting the piece again with the help of a vintage car restorer who had never been to a museum before. The guy, Julian Miller now likes art. Eureka.

Here are some other tips to keeping your art safe and to help prevent restoration. (these tips are from talking to clients and artists - they seem to be common mistakes that result in sad art.)

Keep the art out of direct sunlight. A bright room is fine - not sunbeams.
Lots of new photography is printed with archival inks that have UV protection and most paints are lightfast - but it's the heat too that will crack and dry out the art, not just fade it over time.

Keep the environment the work is in climate controlled as possible. Whether it is in your home or in storage. Even PS Storage is climate controlled in case anyone was wondering. There are professional art storage facilities that also offer specific climate control - many house fine wine collections too. But I am dealing with a lot of collectors who do not store art, but have it up to enjoy.

Keep the art away from moisture and humidity.
Use acid free and archival storage sleeves for paper works not on display. Get paper works mounted on archival boards with the proper adhesive in the proper places. Use a professioanl framer that specializes in archival fine art framing. Some little mom and pop places do a good job with your regular paintings, but paper is more fragile and special. If you buy a ready-made frame, expect to reframe it at some point soon to preserve it.

When transporting and storing art, do not wrap it in bubble wrap super tight with the bubbles facing the artwork. Place a sheet of glassine over the art first and take the bubble wrap off when the work arrives. But keep the glassine on if you are not going to hang it up right away.

For art with shiny surfaces of any kind, do not touch anything to the surface. Fingerprints and wrapping materials - even glassine, creates a weird ghost image when it is removed from the shiny surface. You will have to create a special box with seperators and adhere the piece to a board for shipping by using the hanging device on the back of the piece.

Never clean plastics with Windex. Rubbing Alcohol works if you cannot buy special cleaner. Microfiber cloths used for wiping eye glasses work really great. An anti- static brush purchased at a film supply store works well for dry dusting and will not scratch because the fibers are real hair.

Don't use real dirt mixed with paint to make texture. Use granulated mediums.

Expect food art to get eaten by bugs, but sometimes bugs don't care about your art. Or mice. Beware of Oppossums.