We’re open!

Yay! After just over a year of being closed due to Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions, MoDiP is now finally able to open up once again. And what a better way to celebrate than with a brand-new exhibition: Beside the sea.

This exhibition celebrates the fun of the seaside but also considers important issues such as inclusivity, material value and pollution. It has been an extremely interesting project to work on and we have acquired some amazing objects. 

Image ref: Martin White telescopic swimsuit, AIBDC : 008463
Image credit: MoDiP

One of my favourites is this lovely Martin White telescopic swimsuit (refer image above) in a gorgeous cherry red colour. It is shirred with parallel rows of lastex yarn to provide a stretch fit and is featured alongside a 1950s constructed costume as well as an example from the 1980s in lycra, all exploring the development of synthetic materials in swimwear.

Image ref: ‘Baited’ Hookpod, AIBDC : 008599
Image credit: MoDiP

In researching on the theme of ‘working on the sea’, we came across some fantastic inventions that are using plastics to improve the sustainability of the commercial fishing industry. One such object is the Hookpod, a polycarbonate capsule that covers the point and barb of hooks deployed in longline fishing. It will open once the hook has sunk to a depth beyond the range of diving birds, such as the albatross, thus preventing their incidental capture. The lovely people at Hookpod kindly put a demonstration baited squid on the hook to help explain how it all works.

Image ref: A Dacron sailcloth, AIBDC: 008508
Image credit: MoDiP

We have a case devoted to ropes, sheets and cleats (all things sailing), with a full-sized storm jib on display, made from Dacron, a polyester fibre with a PET waterproof layer. You can’t miss it as it is huge and bright orange in colour! It was quite a challenge to store because we don’t have a dedicated rolled textile storage rack but we managed to improvise by adopting an unused clothing rail and hung the sail over tubing wrapped in acid-free tissue.

Image ref: A backpack from Prada's Re-Nylon collection, AIBDC : 008417
Image credit: MoDiP

A particularly popular area of the collection involves those objects made from ocean plastics and Beside the sea provided the opportunity for the museum to develop this further. Sunglasses seem to be widely available as a product made from these recycled materials, but as we had already acquired a pair back in 2018, we were keen to see what else we could acquire. I love Prada’s backpack, made from Econyl, a nylon thread recycled out of ghost fishing nets.

Beside the sea is open 11 Jun 2021 - 3 Dec 2021.

Plan your visit

Katherine Pell
Collections Officer

Exhibition space

For MoDiP’s latest collaborative exhibition with TheGallery, we thought it would be interesting to celebrate the theme of space given that 2021 marks both the 30^th anniversary of the first ever British person to enter space and the 5^th anniversary of the first ever British spacewalk. We started organising objects and writing text last October with the intention of a January launch (excuse the pun), but Covid-19 lockdown delays meant that the exhibition didn’t actually go up until March. It is currently on display in the Northwest Gallery Entrance of the North Building at AUB, running until 18/06/21.

Image ref: Exhibition space
Image credit: Louise Dennis

Plastics have played a key role in the advancement of space exploration. For example, the spacesuits worn for the 1960s Apollo moon landings were comprised of some 21 different synthetic materials in various complex layers. They included a nylon tricot inner suit, a polycarbonate helmet, PVC tubing as well as silicone coatings on the gloves, Spandex, Dacron, Neoprene, Kevlar, Nomex, Mylar…..

But collecting such plastics is not easy. Firstly, the technology is very expensive to buy: the Science Museum was only able to acquire Helen Sharman’s spacesuit in 2006 with the assistance of a £35,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Image ref: The Sokol spacesuit worn by Helen Sharman.
Image credit: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8538105/sokol-space-suit-space-suit

Secondly, availability is limited: having invested heavily in the development of their spacesuits, organisations like NASA usually want to keep hold of them and maintain them for reuse. Thirdly, all of these plastics come with significant collections care issues: Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit was only recently put back on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum after 13 years’ conservation work, made possible with a campaign that raised more than $500,000.

Image ref: The Apollo extravehicular mobility unit worn by Neil Armstrong.
Image credit: https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/neil-armstrongs-apollo-11-spacesuit

So, if this technology is beyond MoDiP’s reach, how can we actually collect on the theme of space? The objects we included in our collaborative exhibition were domestic in nature and evoked the subject, suggesting how the museum’s objects can be used as a source of inspiration. But we do have space-related objects, those that use technology that was specifically designed for this most hostile of environments but which has now filtered down into the everyday. 

Officially termed spinoff, examples of plastics products in the collection that have derived from NASA technology include a memory foam pillow (AIBDC : 006225 - memory foam was developed for cushioning aircraft seats), a space blanket (AIBDC : 008554 - used for thermal control on the exterior surfaces of spacecraft), a swimsuit (not yet catalogued - NASA tested the design and materials for surface friction drag) and a pair of socks (AIBDC : 005879 – containing phase change technology that assists astronauts in keeping comfortable and cool).

Image ref: MoDiP objects that contain technology developed by NASA.
Image credit: MoDiP

Since 1976, NASA has published over 2,000 other spinoffs in the fields of computer technology, environment and agriculture, health and medicine, public safety, transportation, recreation, and industrial productivity. MoDiP will keep collecting in this area as new commercial innovations become available but in the meantime, if anyone has a spacesuit they would like to donate, please let us know!

Katherine Pell
Collections Officer

 

References:

https://www.craftechind.com/plastic-materials-advanced-space-exploration/

https://www.plasticstoday.com/materials/plastics-make-it-possible-even-outer-space

https://history.nasa.gov/SP-368/s6ch6.htm#548

http://www.esa.int/Applications/Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications/Technology_Transfer/Plastics_for_space_-_problem_solvers_on_Earth

https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/travelinginspace/25aug_plasticspaceships.html

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/stories/astronaut-wanted-story-helen-sharmans-unique-spacesuit

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-nasa-spacesuits-so-expensive-cost-russia-spacex-2020-3?r=US&IR=T

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/neil-armstrongs-restored-spacesuit-put-back-display-smithsonians-national-air-and-space-museum-180972654/

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/05/science/mighty-moon-suits-are-falling-apart.html#

 

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/

 

Jif lemon

When was the last time you saw a Jif lemon for sale in the supermarket? Not the brand’s lemon juice sold in a 250ml glass bottle. Not the modern, yellow, texturised, 100ml plastic bottle with the flat bottom to aid stability. I’m talking about the instantly recognisable container that realistically resembles an actual lemon: a great example of a product which can be identified from the packaging alone.

Image ref: AIBDC : 005918
Image credit: MoDiP

Edward Hack is widely credited as having developed the original idea to package lemon juice in a lemon-shaped container in the early 1950s. He approached Cascelloid Ltd to produce the bottle and presented them with what he considered to be the perfect shaped lemon, on which to base their design. Apparently, he had spent a significant amount of time searching for this elusive fruit, exhausting the supplies of Harrods, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason as well as the Convent Garden market!

The model was made by Cascelloid’s Chief Plastics Designer, Bill Pugh, who in 1954 hand-carved it in wood, covered with fresh lemon peel. The Edward Hack Ltd. ‘Hax’ lemon juice bottle was one of the earliest applications for blow moulded polyethylene in the food industry.

Image ref: Edward Hack’s Hax lemon juice went on sale in 1954.
Image credit: https://beachpackagingdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/HaxLemonAd-1955-2-Color.png

However, as is often the case with new designs and inventions, another plastics lemon container was being developed simultaneously by Stanley Wagner for his company Coldcrops Ltd. Manufactured by Shipton Plastics, it was released to the market a year later in 1955 under the Realemon brand (later ReaLem). Although legal action was taken, the case never reached court due to the fact that both companies were subsequently bought out by Reckitt and Colman in 1956, who launched their Jif lemon juice brand using the packaging originally developed by Hack and Pugh.

Image ref: Jif lemon was sold at chemists, grocers and fishmongers for one shilling.
Image credit: https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/nationwide-hunt-man-who-invented-17809583

Achieving huge success in the UK by linking their product to Shrove Tuesday with the memorable slogan 'Don't forget the pancakes on Jif Lemon day!' (see 1980s TV advert below), Reckitt and Colman also became forever linked to the Jif lemon through a 1990 court case that set the precedent for the law of ‘passing off’ when a competitor tried to sell their lemon juice in very similar packaging. Despite being associated with the product for almost forty years, the business was sold to Unilever in 1995 for $250million. 

Image ref: 'Don't forget the pancakes on Jif Lemon day!', devised by the advertising agency 
Foote, Cone and Belding Ltd.
Image credit: https://www.hatads.org.uk/catalogue/record/578c6a48-094b-4a9e-a54d-bb9402e9b769/ 

By the year 2000, 80,000 lemons were being manufactured every day in the five weeks leading up to Shrove Tuesday, sold at a cost of just 39p each. At some point between 1995 – 2005 the design was altered, resulting in the modern version being slightly smaller with less surface texture, having a flip-top (instead of screw) lid and a slimmer logo that now includes the wording ‘real lemon juice’ beneath. It also includes the LDPE plastics identification code on the opposite side.

MoDiP has examples of both designs in the collection but unfortunately, our two early screw-top lemons are both unwell and currently reside in the hospital cupboard. As you can see from the image below, there is significant discolouration which we assume has been caused by lemon juice residue. We are going to tentatively ‘clean’ this away to see if the actual plastics material has deteriorated as well.

Image ref: MoDiP’s ‘poorly’ lemons.
Image credit: Katherine Pell

In the meantime, our 2015 example is currently on display in the museum and Stuart Bartholomew, one of our MyPlastic exhibition interviewees, evokes nostalgia for this cultural icon during his childhood when fresh lemons were not as widely available as they are today. Reversely, it would now appear that the plastics lemons are becoming scarce as Unilever have confirmed to MoDiP their intention to phase out production.

Katherine Pell
Collections Officer

References:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/plastic-lemons-history-britain-juice

https://beachpackagingdesign.com/boxvox/packaged-past-tense-the-hax-plastic-lemon-pack

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/nationwide-hunt-man-who-invented-17809583

https://www.facebook.com/UnileverArchives/posts/today-is-shrove-tuesday-better-known-here-in-the-uk-as-pancake-day-since-the-mid/1002987433062074/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-bill-pugh-1426051.html

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24865638?seq=1

https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/features/history-of-the-world-in-52-packs-8-jif-lemon-03-09-2015

https://tedium.co/2017/02/28/lemon-juice-squeeze-bottles-history/

https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/unchanged-pricing-one-year-on-for-that-jif-lemon-for-shrove/58446.article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jif_(lemon_juice) 

Plastic fails

If you’re a regular reader of the museum’s blog, you’ll know that we like to promote plastics’ virtues because this material group is often misunderstood and misrepresented. Reading Pam’s recent post where she talked about the EasyRoller 2 wheelchair, she highlighted ten different types of plastics that were used within the chair’s construction, each carefully chosen to match the intended application. It made me think about the fact that this is not always the case: sometimes designers and manufacturers get it wrong.

For example, back in 2018 I wrote a blog post about my new washing basket. The body was made from silicone and designed to concertina down in order for the basket to be stored flat. Unfortunately, this strength in persuading me to buy the basket was also its weakness as it really didn’t take very long for the silicone to begin to tear along the folded edges (see image below). I persisted with it until the basket handle finally tore off: clearly the wrong material selection. Its replacement, a collapsible storage crate, is again made of plastic but this time polypropylene: far stronger and more durable. It has already outperformed its predecessor at a cost of less than half the price.

Left to right: the collapsible washing basket, the silicone beginning to fail and the replacement.
Image credit: Katherine Pell

Continuing with the washing theme, a few years ago I also bought some plastic pegs because I felt the wooden ones we had been using left too much of a noticeable mark on the clothes. I acquired two different types: some white polypropylene ones that replicated the design of the more traditional wooden style and some polystyrene ergonomic pegs in red, purple and grey. They both promised to grip the clothes in a more delicate way and have indeed been successful in solving this particular issue. However, I am now finding that all of the ergonomic pegs are becoming embrittled, with the finger grips starting to snap off. In the summer they might be out on the line all day and, unfortunately, they are obviously not sufficiently UV resistant to deal with this amount of sun exposure resulting in breakage at the weak point in the design. Their limited lifespan simply cannot compete with the wooden ones I have owned for over twenty years, although the white ones are faring better. The broken pegs are now being repurposed to secure netting around plants in the garden where they do not have to be opened/closed on a regular basis.

Left to right: the three different types of pegs, the snapped finger grips and a broken peg being repurposed.
Image credit: Katherine Pell

At Christmas, my daughter was given a travel mug made from eco-friendly bamboo with a heat-resistant silicone lid and grip. In manufacture, the bamboo has likely been ground into a powder and combined with a synthetic resin such as melamine, a material renowned for being easily stained by organic acids such as the tannin found in tea. I think the mug was only used twice before we started to notice the interior surface becoming discoloured so, once again, perhaps not the best choice of material for this particular purpose? We have also found a new use for the cup, this time as a toothbrush holder in the bathroom.

Left to right: the travel mug, the stained interior and a new use.
Image credit: Katherine Pell

So, does any of this really matter? I appreciate everything has a finite lifespan and I probably expect too much of these everyday products but bad design, which includes material selection, contributes to negative perceptions about plastics when the product ultimately fails. Even if the purchase cost is not very high (such as in the case of the clothes pegs), I still don’t want disposability. I continue to believe that the plastics material family is amazing but it has to be the right material for the job. Luckily, we have some great examples in the collection to successfully demonstrate this such as an artificial eye, flame resistant racing gloves and a wind-up radio amongst many, many other objects. We also have resources that explain what is good as well as what is bad about plastics if you want to find out more.

Left to right: AIBDC : 008357, AIBDC : 005887 and AIBDC : 000415.
Image credit: MoDiP

Katherine Pell
Collections Officer

Revisit the 80s in Memphis: Plastic Field

A new exhibition at the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes (02/12/20 – 12/09/21) explores work from the influential 1980s design movement, Memphis.

Memphis designers with Masanori Umeda's Tawaraya Bed, 1981.  
Image credit: Studio Azzurro. Courtesy Memphis Post Design Gallery.

The Memphis Group was founded in December 1980 by Italian designer and architect Ettore Sottsass. It brought together a group of young, international designers, united in their desire to inject humour into the design world and challenge contemporary notions of functionality and taste. Their work was colourful and geometric, drawing inspiration from the Pop Art, Bauhaus and Art Deco movements to create an entirely new aesthetic. 

'Carlton' by Ettore Sottsass, 1981. Memphis Milano Collection. Bookshelf in plastic laminate. 
Image credit: Aldo Ballo, Guido Cegani, Peter Ogilvie. Courtesy Memphis Srl. 

Prioritising the sensory quality of an object over its function, they used materials like plastic laminate, traditionally used in kitchens and bathrooms, to produce high-end furniture such as ‘Carlton’, a bookshelf room divider designed by Sottsass in 1981 (seen in the image above), and ‘Lido’, a sofa designed by Michele De Lucchi in 1982 (below).

'Lido' by Michele De Lucchi 1982. Memphis Milano Collection. Sofa in plastic laminate.  
Image credit: Studio Azzurro. Courtesy Memphis Srl.

Whilst their designs experienced limited commercial success at the time and were often derided by critics, the collective’s influence has had a lasting cultural impact despite only being active for eight years. Only ever intended to be a deliberate, passing fad, Memphis disbanded in 1988 with many of the group going on to become established names within the field of international design. MoDiP has examples represented within the collection from the former members Michael Graves, Alessandro Mendini and George Sowden, as well as objects inspired by the movement, which can all be viewed on request. My favourite, which I think captures the essence of the Memphis style, is this Zolo toy building set dated to 1998.

Zolo creative building set, AIBDC : 001325.  
Image credit: MoDiP

The Memphis: Plastic Field exhibition celebrates a revolutionary moment in the history of design and features over 150 lovely objects. Apparently, some of the group’s early laminate pieces occasionally contain mosquitoes, which had unfortunately become embedded within the composite material during manufacture at Lake Como, Italy. When I visit, I might just take a magnifying glass with me to go bug hunting as well as plastics spotting!

Katherine Pell, Collections Officer.