MoDiP closed Friday 28th June 2013

MoDiP will be closed on Friday 28th June 2013 due to it being Graduation day at AUB.

The MoDiP team would like to offer our warmest congratulations to all of the Graduating students.

We will be open again as usual on Monday 1st July 2013, for more information about our opening times please see our website: www.modip.ac.uk/content/visiting-us

Susan, Pam & Louise

MoDiP closed Monday 24th June 2013

On Monday 24th June 2013 MoDiP will be closed.

We apologise for any inconvenience, if you would like to contact the museum during this closure period please email us on modip@aub.ac.uk.

We will be open again as usual on Tuesday 25th June 2013, for more information about our opening times please see our website: www.modip.ac.uk/content/visiting-us

Susan, Pam & Louise

What is this?

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)

#MusCake

The theme this month on culturethemes.blogspot.co.uk/ is cake, and who doesn't like cake? MoDiP has quite a variety of pieces in the collection that relate to cake in some way.

Cake moulds

Silicone lends itself to cake moulds, it has a high heat resistance and the cake can be easily removed from the flexible shape.

AIBDC : 004805

This Tupperware muffin mould was featured in our exhibition, Substitute: animal, vegetable, mineral & used by an AUB Interior Architecture student as part of the Objective Objects project.

AIBDC : 005594

Our exhibition, You can do it with plastics, looked at the flexibility provided by this jigsaw cake mould.

AIBDC : 006020

These Zeal cake cases were also used in our exhibition, Substitute: animal, vegetable, mineral to show how plastics can be used to replace disposable paper cake cases.


Icing and slicing

AIBDC : 004809

 When this Tupperware icing ball is not in use the different nozzles can be stored inside.

BXL : 1578

This promotional image shows a how easy it is to ice a cake using the Cascelloid cake decorating kit.

AIBDC : 006669

Coco the cake knife is one of my favourite pieces in our current exhibition, Beastly designs.

Storage and stands
Once you have made your cake you need to display it or store it safely.  

AIBDC : 005030

We have a number of food storage boxes in the collection but this one is for an individual slice so you can take your cake to work with you. You cannot beat a classic piece of Tupperware for practicality.

AIBDC : 005588

From a plastics point of view this blue cake stand shows the flow of the injection moulded polystyrene very clearly.

AIBDC : 0_6452

This unusual cake stand is made of acrylic

Other museums and museum visitors will be sharing their cakes on twitter - find out more by searching #MusCake or following @Culturethemes

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0012

In 2010, MoDiP was donated a large archive of images relating to a single company. Bakelite Xylonite Ltd, also known as British Xylonite Ltd or BXL, was possibly one of the first British firms to successfully manufacture a plastics material in commercial quantities. The company was established in 1875 and after a long history went into liquidation in the late 2000s. The images we have in the collection are concentrated around the 1960s through to the 1980s and show us glimpses of the manufacturing process, products and the company’s employees during this time. We plan to share an image each week to give a flavour of the archive. If you want to see more you can view the whole collection on our website.

This week’s image shows sheets of polyethylene before and after it is expanded to create Plastazote.

To get a better view of the image and find out more have a look at it on our website
http://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/bxl--0211

We are still working on the documentation of the archive, some of the images we know more about than others. It would be fantastic if we could fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge, if you know anything about the company or specific images it would be good to hear from you.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

An iconic design

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 bridge

Whilst out for a walk the other day along the Stour Valley Way in the beautiful sunshine I literally came across this fabulous plastic bridge.

I can imagine that this area is prone to some flooding so the use of plastics, most probably recycled, is the very sensible.  It will not rot when subjected to a long soaking.

The material will be long lived and will withstand the continued use of the many walkers and cyclists who use this area.

Louise Dennis, (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0011

In 2010, MoDiP was donated a large archive of images relating to a single company. Bakelite Xylonite Ltd, also known as British Xylonite Ltd or BXL, was possibly one of the first British firms to successfully manufacture a plastics material in commercial quantities. The company was established in 1875 and after a long history went into liquidation in the late 2000s. The images we have in the collection are concentrated around the 1960s through to the 1980s and show us glimpses of the manufacturing process, products and the company’s employees during this time. We plan to share an image each week to give a flavour of the archive. If you want to see more you can view the whole collection on our website.

This week’s image shows toy shapes.

To get a better view of the image and find out more have a look at it on our website
http://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/bxl--02131

We are still working on the documentation of the archive, some of the images we know more about than others. It would be fantastic if we could fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge, if you know anything about the company or specific images it would be good to hear from you.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Guess the object

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)

Wunderkammer - Zoe Raffe

This piece by Zoe Raffe is the last part of the BA Hons Fine Art project Wunderkammer

Untitled, Mixed media

Zoe says: Personal collection of curiosities.

Untitled, Mixed media

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Wunderkammer - Natasha Marriot

This piece by Natasha Marriot is part of the BA Hons Fine Art project Wunderkammer

Untitled, Acrylic on canvas

Natasha says: Traditionally collectors of the past would venture into new and unknown territories and return with both natural specimens and detailed illustrations of plants and animals to add to their Cabinets of Curiosities. Appropriating the techniques of scientific illustrations, these five paintings attempt to communicate my response to the intricate patterns and vivid colours in the eyes of reptiles and amphibians.  By isolating just the eyes they became more than eyes and began to take on forms of their own. 
 

Untitled, Acrylic on canvas

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0010

In 2010, MoDiP was donated a large archive of images relating to a single company. Bakelite Xylonite Ltd, also known as British Xylonite Ltd or BXL, was possibly one of the first British firms to successfully manufacture a plastics material in commercial quantities. The company was established in 1875 and after a long history went into liquidation in the late 2000s. The images we have in the collection are concentrated around the 1960s through to the 1980s and show us glimpses of the manufacturing process, products and the company’s employees during this time. We plan to share an image each week to give a flavour of the archive. If you want to see more you can view the whole collection on our website.

This week’s image shows a 1970s Lotus Formula 1 car.

To get a better view of the image and find out more have a look at it on our website
http://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/bxl--0217

We are still working on the documentation of the archive, some of the images we know more about than others. It would be fantastic if we could fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge, if you know anything about the company or specific images it would be good to hear from you.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)