#MuseumCats

The theme this month on culturethemes.blogspot.co.uk/ is Museum Cats, it is an opportunity for museums to share the different kinds of cats they have in their collections. 

MoDiP's collection is extensive but is lacking in cats it seems.  We really must try harder.

This little critter below is part of the designer toy trend where a basic form is decorated and an artist or design company.  This particular piece was designed by the street artist Urban Medium.

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The marketing tool of using recognisable characters and animals to sell products to children has been used by the food industry for many years.  Below we have a lovely marmalade cat promoting an orange flavoured drink, and the Looney Toons cartoon character Sylvester in the form of a yogurt pot both for Marks and Spencer.

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 You have to look at little more closely to spot the cat on the below Frijj Halloween bottle.

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The next example is an interesting piece of folk art with a woven surround and soft focus style image of a kitten and puppy. ahhhh

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And lastly to throw in a slight curve ball, how about a cute pair of kitten heels?

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


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0061

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 factory opening ceremony.

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--16151

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

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Confused by home recycling?

Home recycling plastics can be very confusing.  What will your local council take in your kerbside collection?  What should you take to your local recycling centre?

Suffolk Recycling have come up with a marvellous 1950s style public information film to help their residents decide what to put into their recycling bins.




Do check with your local council to see what they are able to recycle.  

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0060

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 an insulated cable.

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--0395

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)

Stay cool and guess what this is

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)

South West Federation Training Day

Last week, MoDiP ran a training day as part of the South West Federation of Museums' 'Museum Skills Programme'. 20 delegates came to find out about identifying and caring for the plastics objects that they have in their collections.

Pam, our Collections Manager, started the day with a presentation about the milestones in the development of plastics materials.  She looked at natural plastics, semi-synthetics, and synthetic examples.

The delegates settling down ready for the first presentation.

We showed objects made of early plastics including horn (a natural plastic), Bois Durci, and Shellac.

I then demonstrated some of the resources that we have on our website, in particular the Curator's Guide to Plastics and the Identifying Plastics Toolkit which has both a physical and digital existence.

During the second half of the day we had the delegates identifying the materials that some of our objects are made of.

The activity based on the Toolkit

Some materials were easier than others, but it did seem that all the delegates engaged with the objects with great enthusiasm.  

Delegates discussing the material characteristics present in the objects.

Googling tradenames can be a great first step in identifying materials.

Pam concluded the day by looking at the best way to look after materials, information about which can be found on our website.

We would like to thank all the delegates for joining us, and for taking part in the activity with such zest.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0059

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 factory building.

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--16302

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

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

The first step of the PhD journey

You may remember that I have embarked on the journey to study for a PhD at the University of Brighton (UoB). I have recently had my research plan approved by the UoB and I thought that now would be a good opportunity to let you know a bit more about what I will be researching over the next few years. 

I am interested in the act of collecting objects because of their materials and will feature MoDiP as my main case study comparing it with other museums and collections that have materials as their focus. Accredited museums have mission statements and collecting policies that reflect their purpose, with subject as the usual. These subject-based collections necessarily include materials; however, they are an incidental consequence of the subject rather than the material itself being the primary reason for collecting. This project is an investigation looking into the significance of collecting objects because of the material family they are made of rather than the subject matter they describe.

Traditionally, early museums looked at ‘high culture’ such as art, science, or natural history. This concentration on ‘high’ or ‘elite’ culture, means that in many museums if an object has been collected with its material in mind, it is because it is made of a high status material, for example a silver teapot. In comparison, my project will be looking at the material most associated with ‘popular culture’ or everyday life. Plastics have the connotation of being inexpensive and disposable, ordinary, everyday and often something to avoid. Plastics are classless materials that we all encounter on a daily basis regardless of our social standing. They are practically impossible to avoid. Plastics as materials have no intrinsic shape, or colour, unlike natural materials. They surround us and when they are working well they are overlooked or taken for granted, but when an object does not do its job well the material becomes noticeable, and is criticised and the object is described as plasticy, tarring all plastic materials with the same brush. An equivalent phrase for something that does not work well would not be metally it would be, perhaps, tinny showing recognition that tin is a cheap metal usually used for inferior objects. 

In Nov 2013 BBC Radio 4 ran a programme in the Costing the Earth series entitled The End of Plastic, the programme looked into alternatives for single-use plastic packaging. This is just one example of the many instances of when the word ‘plastic’ is used today it refers to disposable packaging or carrier bags along with the pollution and destruction these items cause to environmental wellbeing. Plastic is invariably seen as a single use, cheap, mass produced material of little consequence, or huge environmental consequence depending on your point of view. However, the technically correct term plastics shows us that it is actually a family group of materials with many different qualities and uses, in the same way that metal and wood are families comprising materials as diverse and interesting as wrought iron and platinum, and balsa wood and ebony. The difference with plastics is that the members of the family are constantly changing with some older materials falling out of favour and newer, younger materials taking their place and venturing further into our lives.The fashionable style might change over time but plastics can be always up-to-date in terms of colour and shape due to being a formless substance. 

Compared to other materials, plastics are often regarded as too new to be a legitimate part of a collection by museum visitors. The material is often seen as playful and fun and not serious enough for museum objects.From talking to MoDiP visitors, it is apparent that they see plastics as a modern phenomenon, as part of their everyday lives, and as such they do not expect to see them in a museum display case. The phrase ‘I had one of those’ is often heard followed by the realisation that the object in their possession had been lost or thrown away with little regard. The ever changing use and development of plastics does give the impression of them being new materials and yet, plastics have a longer history than is often expected. Natural plastics, such as horn and amber, have been in use for many hundreds of years, however, the first ‘deliberate chemical modification of a natural polymer’ lead to the production of vulcanized rubber in 1839. The first semi-synthetic plastics such as Parkesine (cellulose nitrate) were created in the mid-1800s, and the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite (phenol formaldehyde), was produced in 1907 (http://www.modip.ac.uk/resources/curators_guide/plastics_timeline). This historical context gives plastics the legitimacy to reside in the museum; nevertheless curators are still finding it hard to show the value of plastics alongside natural materials such as wood and stone, and traditional man-made materials such as glass and metal alloys. These older materials come with an assumed knowledge of importance and an intrinsic value which plastics objects have yet to secure. 

There are very few museums or collections which have a material focus as broad as MoDiP. The use of plastics is vast; from a disposable fork to the high technological body work of a Formula 1 car; from the disposable fashion clothing we wear daily to the specialist space suits worn by astronauts, no other material family has this diversity of uses.Collections with a material focus often look at the decorative elements or the industrial applications of material. 

I am really looking forward to working on this project and discovering more about plastics, collecting, and museum practices. I am interested in finding other single material family collections that may be of interest to my study, I would love to hear any suggestions you may have. 

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0058

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 an employee receiving a gift.

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--1289

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)

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

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

MKTO - Classic

There are many occurrences of plastics used in popular culture of all kinds, from films and books to songs and poems.  Sometimes the connotations are good and other times the word 'plastic' is used to illustrate mass-production and everything being the same as it is in this example.

This song by MKTO has an interesting chorus which discusses a 'classic' woman living in a world 'gone plastic'.

The lyrics are courtesy of http://www.metrolyrics.com/classic-lyrics-mkto.html

Hey! Where's the drum?

Ooh girl you're shining
Like a 5th avenue diamond
And they don't make you like they used to
You're never going out of style

Ooh pretty baby
This world might have gone crazy
The way you saved me,
Who could blame me
When I just wanna make you smile

I wanna thrill you like Michael
I wanna kiss you like Prince
Let's get it on like Marvin Gaye
Like Hathaway write a song for you like this

You're over my head
I'm out of my mind
Thinking I was born in the wrong time
One of a kind, living in a world gone plastic
Baby you're so classic
Baby you're so classic
Baby you,
Baby you're so classic

Four dozen of roses
Anything for you to notice
All the way to serenade you
Doing it Sinatra style

Ima pick you up in a Cadillac
Like a gentleman bringin' glamor back
Keep it real to real in the way I feel
I could walk you down the aisle

I wanna thrill you like Michael
I wanna kiss you like Prince
Let's get it on like Marvin Gaye
Like Hathaway write a song for you like this

You're over my head
I'm out of my mind
Thinking I was born in the wrong time
Let's start the rewind, everything is so throwback age (I kinda like it like it)
Out of my league
Old school chic
Like a movie star
From the silver screen
One of a kind living in a world gone plastic
Baby you're so classic
Baby you're so classic
Baby you're so classic

Baby you're class and baby you're sick
I never met a girl like you ever til we met
A star in the 40's, centerfold in the 50's
Got me tripping out like the sixties
Hippies Queen of the discotheque
A 70's dream and an 80's best
Hepburn, Beyoncé, Marilyn Manson
Girl you're timeless, just so classic

You're over my head I'm out of my mind
Thinking I was born in the wrong time
Let's start the rewind, everything is so throwback age (I kinda like it like it)
Out of my league
Old school chic
Like a movie star
From the silver screen
You're one of a kind living in a world gone plastic
Baby you're so classic
Baby you're so classic
Baby you're so classic

Songwriters
GOLDSTEIN, ANDREW MAXWELL / KIRIAKOU, EMANUEL / BOGART, EVAN KIDD / ROBBINS, LINDY

Published by
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)