Closed for Christmas

We would like to wish all of our followers a very merry Christmas and a happy 2014.

MoDiP will now be closed for the Christmas break along with the rest of the campus.  We will reopen on 6th January 2014.

Seasons Greetings

Susan, Pam, Louise & Julie

BXL photographic archive #0036

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 group of people wearing 'fancoats'.

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--0500

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)

Can you identify this 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 to find the answer click here and you will be taken to the MoDiP catalogue.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

MoDiP Christmas outing

Last week the MoDiP team went to London for a team building day*.  We visited two exhibitions, Pop Art Design at The Barbican which runs until 9th February 2014, and Hello, My Name is Paul Smith at the The Design Museum which runs until 9th March 2014.

*Christmas jolly

We enjoyed both exhibitions.  We were interested by the amount of polyurethane foam and acrylic used in the Pop Art movement.  One piece of particular note was the 1964 Gunnar Aagaard Anderson chair, Portrait of My Mother's Chesterfield, an example of which can also be found at MoMA.  This chair is made up of layers of polyurethane foam poured into place by hand, building up the chair form from the ground up.  Susan commented that it was like handmade 3D printing.

After viewing the whole exhibition the team wanted to take in the atmosphere of the Barbican estate* so we took a moment to sit on the lakeside terrace and enjoy our surroundings. 

*have a rest.

Photo courtesy of PeteD on Flickr via creative commons

The added bonus was the fabulous Robin Day furniture.

Julie Connery (MoDiP Administrator), Pam Langdown (Collections Manager) and Susan Lambert (Head of MoDiP) enjoying a well earned rest.

I got to have a little sit down too, holding up proof of where we have been.

The seating we made use of is part of the Sussex range designed by Robin Day and installed at the centre in the mid 2000s.  The white sections are made of glass reinforced polypropylene and the arms and legs are galvanised steel plate. We all agreed that they were very comfortable.

Although the Paul Smith exhibition had less plastics in it they were still present including a giant rabbit-shaped interactive rubbish bin designed to encourage people to throw their litter away rather then drop it in the street. The exhibition itself had a refreshing feel to it, the text and audio/visuals were all in the first person, 'this was the size of my first shop'.  It was the kind of exhibition which stayed with me for days, popping back into my thoughts without me noticing and making me smile.

I would whole heartedly recommend both exhibitions, Pop Art Design displays some really iconic pieces and Hello, My Name is Paul Smith shows how an exhibition about a living designer can be like a chat and a personal tour of someone's life, work and inspiration.


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0035

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 the quality control of an extrusion processor.

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--0096

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)

Keep your cool and 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 to find the answer click here and you will be taken to the MoDiP catalogue.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0034

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 the manual laying of pipe.

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--03855

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.

This will have you guessing

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 to find the answer click here and you will be taken to the MoDiP catalogue.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Plastic warships

I was watching the local news this morning and there was a report on the Royal Navy using minesweeper ships in the Gulf to keep waterways clear to allow oil tankers a safe passage.  I was only half listening but then I heard the phrase 'plastic bottomed minesweepers', and my interest was piqued. Why would the ships be plastic? What Plastic?
 

HMS Atherstone in the Middle East. Photographer: LA(Phot) Stuart Hill
Image 45151301.jpg from www.defenceimages.mod.uk

The Hunt Class of 'mine countermeasures vessels' were first introduced in 1979.  They have a wooden hull which has an external layer of Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP). This material combination means that the vessel can withstand a nearby blast and also gives it a low magnetic signature so as not to trigger the mines. More information about these vessels can be found on the Armed Forces website http://www.armedforces.co.uk/navy/listings/l0017.html


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0033

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 woman wearing a body brace.

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--0230

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)