MoDiP on Facebook

(PhD Studentship available at AUB http://www.modip.ac.uk/resources/PhD-Studentship)

At MoDiP we thought it was about time that we set up a Facebook page.  Here you can find out more about our exhibitions, share ideas with us and keep in touch.

If you are a Facebooker come over and give us a like:

MoDiP on Facebook


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

This one is a toughie

(PhD Studentship available at AUB http://www.modip.ac.uk/resources/PhD-Studentship)

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual.

By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?

Post your answer in the comments below or find out more about the object by looking at the MoDiP catalogue.


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Patent law - Telegraph article

(PhD Studentship available at AUB http://www.modip.ac.uk/resources/PhD-Studentship)

On 17th February The Telegraph published an interesting article about the inventor Trevor Baylis and the intricacies of patent law.

MoDiP has a Trevor Baylis wind up radio in the collection and it is always a popular piece with our visitors.

http://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/aibdc-000415

It does seem such a shame that such a brilliant man can lose so much control of his inventions and patents leaving him in a position where he has to make the decision whether to remortgage or sell the house that he built in order to be able to afford to live.

Find out more about Trevor Baylis and his inventions on his website - http://www.trevorbaylisbrands.com/tbb/aboutus/trevorbaylis/trevor.asp

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

What could this be?

(PhD Studentship available at AUB http://www.modip.ac.uk/resources/PhD-Studentship)

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual. 


By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?

Post your answer in the comments below or find out more about the object by looking at the MoDiP catalogue.


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Plastics related PhD Studentship available at AUB

One full-time supported MPhil/ PhD studentship is available for a 3-year research project focused on the Museum of Design in Plastics MoDiP), a research resource of the Arts University Bournemouth, a specialist institution of art, design, media and performance. The studentship will be fees-only, covering Home/EU fees for 3 years full-time study. Students would be required to pay fees for any further periods of study. Overseas students are welcome to apply but will need to fund the balance of fees for Overseas Research Students.
The research project is expected to involve working with the design/plastics industries and /or an analysis of the impacts of the practice of these industries thereby contributing to the development of MoDiP’s knowledge exchange agenda. You may wish to consider projects in particular in the following thematic areas:

• Fashion: for example synthetic fabrics and the ethics of fashion, past/present/future, or synthetic fabrics in home dressmaking, 1940s to the present.
• Fine Art Practices: for example meanings of materials or the boundaries of curatorship linked to the University’s ‘Making/Meaning’ research cluster.
• Spatial Practices: for example the agency of plastics in everyday practices or plastics and sustainable environment.

We are however open to any proposal that focuses on the practice, theory and/or history of a specialist area relevant to any aspect of MoDiP’s collection that falls within the subjects for which the University can offer supervision. The research project may result in a written thesis or a combination of practice and text-based critique.

MoDiP is the only accredited museum in the UK with a focus on plastics. It has approximately 10,000 artefacts of predominantly 20^th and 21^st century mass-produced design and popular culture. There is also a collection of some 2000 photographs relating to the manufacture and reception of plastics. The collections can be seen on MoDiP’s website at www.modip.ac.uk. Plastics have a vital place in the study and practice of art, design, media and performance; they are utilised in fine art, fashion, costume for performance, modelmaking, and architecture; they played an important role in the development of photography and film and remain a vital component in the digital age; they continue to inform and transform our environment. Thus MoDiP makes a significant contribution to the University’s research culture.

Applicants are urged to contact the Research Office by emailing vlodge@aucb.ac.uk for an informal discussion of the nature of their research. They are also welcome to visit the museum. More information about postgraduate research degrees and the research culture at the Arts University Bournemouth can be found on the University’s website at: http://aub.ac.uk/all/full-time/postgraduate/research-degrees/.

Applicants would normally be expected to have an MA and must fulfil the normal academic requirements for acceptance for postgraduate research degree study at the AUB. Degrees are accredited by University of the Arts London. Applications should be made direct to the Arts University College at Bournemouth through the online application system.

For questions regarding the application process please contact Valerie Lodge, Senior Research Officer: vlodge@aucb.ac.uk.

Closing date for applications: 1 June 2013

Does this ring any bells?

(PhD Studentship available at AUB http://www.modip.ac.uk/resources/PhD-Studentship)

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual. 

By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?

Post your answer in the comments below or find out more about the object by looking at the MoDiP catalogue.


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Plastics SSN Meeting, HMS Belfast, 24 January 2013

(PhD Studentship available at AUB http://www.modip.ac.uk/resources/PhD-Studentship)



MoDiP was pleased to organise a meeting of the Plastics Subject Specialist network made possible by Arts Council England funding. It took place on Thursday 24 January on HMS Belfast, launched in 1938, which was a wonderfully engaging venue. We had a lovely pair of low-ceilinged officers' mess rooms with urea formaldehyde light switches and formica covered walls.

The dentist

The day began with a riveting talk given by Andy Holbrook, Head of Care and Conservation at the Imperial War Museum, about its plastics. He focused on the storage of  cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate negatives and films but touched also on keeping plastics artefacts that lose their flexibility in the configuration they propose to display them. We were also given a fascinating tour of the ship itself by Andy Curran, responsible for it as a (very large)museum object, and Kevin Price, its Chief Yeoman, taking in torpedoes, cannons, stuffed cats and figures frozen in motion.



Materials' samples

The pretext for the day was trialling a toolkit aimed at helping people responsible for collections to identify the particular plastics of which artefacts in their collections are made.  The toolkit is divided into two parts - plastics in general use before and after World War 2. Each part includes a brief introduction to plastics, a methodology for interrogating artefacts made of plastics, a selection of samples of different types of plastics with descriptions of their development, their characteristics and how they are most often used.





Artefacts from post WW2 toolkit

There are also artefacts made from the same plastics accompanied by photographic details to help you know what to look at and on the back of the sheet an explanation of what you might have deduced from the artefact and how it could have contributed to the identification of how or of which plastic it was made.This is important not only in terms of documenting the collection to a high standard but also because different plastics need different conditions and how they are looked after can seriously affect their life expectancy.

 

 

It was an interesting and enjoyable day thanks especially to the input from the Imperial War Museum. People certainly welcomed the idea of such a toolkit and there were many constructive criticisms in terms of materials that are missing and how it can be made more user friendly. These will be worked on and then the kit will be made available also on line and trialled again.

Delegates trialling the toolkit

The Plastics SSN would like to thank members of the  Plastics Historical Society who attended the meeting and shared their expertise with less expert delegates, and especially its Chairman, Steve Akhurst for supplying most of the objects for the toolkit. It would also like to thank the Imperial War Museum for providing such an enabling venue for the event and, of course, Arts Council England for  providing the funding for production of the toolkit.



Susan Lambert

Head of the Museum of Design in Plastics



 





What is this?

(PhD Studentship available at AUB http://www.modip.ac.uk/resources/PhD-Studentship)

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual. 


By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?

Post your answer in the comments below or find out more about the object by looking at the MoDiP catalogue.


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)