Material History Virtual World Publication

Research Profile Photography and Digital Media 1. The Tate Modern “Tate Modern” by Javier Sánchez Fernández is marked with CC PDM 1.0, Public domain images courtesy of Creative Commons. 2. “BCN VIRTUAL REALITY FEST 360025” by Arts Santa Mònica is marked with CC PDM 1.0. Public domain images, courtesy of Creative Commons. 3. “BCN VIRTUAL REALITY FEST 360016” by Arts Santa Mònica is marked with CC PDM 1.0, Public domain images, courtesy of Creative Commons. 51

Anna Talley How Google Uses Design for Profit & Power: Neocolonialism & Google’s Material Design Guidelines Where USA, Global When 2011-Today What graphic sesign, UI/UX, modernism My work on the MA course focused on online advertising market and the impact graphic and communication design, as of search algorithms on minority commu- I have a background in graphic design nities, my study’s framing reveals how a practice (and am not-so-secretly ob- contemporary design system can be used sessed with typography). My object study for neo-imperial purposes and is the first explored a nineteenth-century adver- to critically investigate Google’s design. tisement, How the British Empire Spells The dissertation serves to answer the Bovril, and investigated the mutual re- overall question: How is Material Design lationship between the Bovril Company used to enhance Google’s profit and con- and the British Empire at the turn of the trol within a neocolonial context? I used twentieth century, focusing specifical- three areas of inquiry to investigate Google ly on the way the advertisement reveals and Material Design: first, the connection the means by which the company used between ideologies developed in mid-cen- various aspects of imperialism to market tury modernism and their influence on their product to domestic consumers. Material Design; second, how Material I wrote my historiography on narratives Design is situated within a use context around the transition from print to digital in the Global South; and third, exploring newspapers in the late twentieth-century the role of Google as a “designer”, as the and the role of newspapers in contempo- creator and source of the Material guide- rary society. lines, and the implications of such control. Ultimately, my dissertation brings to light My dissertation centred around Goo- the way digital design works to further the gle’s Material Design guidelines and ex- neocolonial ambitions of Google, adding a plores how Google uses design as a tool new element to the complex web of social, to augment the company’s neocolonial economic and cultural factors that have actions. It reveals the twentieth-century, allowed the company to become globally imperialist origins of Material as a modern influential. More broadly, it reveals how design system and examines how these modernist design systems can perpetuate origins inform the functioning of Material and support neocolonial ideologies and within a contemporary, neocolonial con- actions in the twenty-first century. text. Though previous researchers have looked at Google’s control over the global 52

Research Profile Photography and Digital Media Moving forward, I plan to continue my work in modern and contemporary design (communication and otherwise) and am excited by the future of design research in digital spaces. 53

Ling Cai Connecting Experience: The Mobile V&A Visitor Experience Where United Kingdom, Global When 2012-2020 What visitor experience, mobile technologies, virtual museum, ecosystem, touch sensory, digital culture, organisation models, innovation The digital age has radically changed the contemporary museum culture, consum- world; modern consumers see one brand, er behaviour and human-centred design one experience, regardless of channels. innovation, while highlighting the need The framework of a seamless, person- for sustainability storytelling, working to- alised customer journey with multiple en- gether to bridge the gap between physi- try points – in particular, the connection cal and virtual museum spaces, and – ulti- of experience with mobile technologies mately - for connecting experiences.  – has been foremost in marketing discus- sions of the twenty-first century, yet it is still relatively underexplored in museum settings. There has been a concomitant move towards accessing museums via the internet from searching for exhibi- tions, collections, and virtual tours. With the pandemic lockdown, the need for on- line access has dramatically accelerated. The results, however, have been notably uneven. This research considers how a change in approach has changed the V&A visitor experience to deliver positive out- comes, offering a valuable understanding of a balanced and inclusive visitor ecosys- tem between 2012 and 2020. Building on extensive primary archival research, the study combines a mixed-method frame- work with history of design and material culture, incorporating innovative experi- ence design methods to answer specific research questions. Aiming to create a foundation for further conversations, the study contributes an examination of both 54

Research Profile Photography and Digital Media Illustration. Mixed media digital picture, by Ling Cai, 2020. Content: The Ceramic Staircase, built between 1865 and 1871, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, photograph by Marcus Ginns, copyright © 2021, reproduced with the permission of the photographer. 55

Maximilian Glatzhofer Deconstructing the Scopic Regime of the Austrian-Hungarian military Apparatus in World War I through Photographic Propaganda Books Where Austria/Habsburg Empire When 1914-1918 What photography, photo books, propaganda, censorship, systems of visuality, reality/mediation, scopic regime, apparatus, World War I With a background in commercial pho- In all of these projects my basic ques- tography I came to this MA with an inter- tion was: ‘What do photographs do?’ Why est in how photographs circulate through are photographs deployed in the way they society not just as two-dimensional imag- are? The indexical quality we often ascribe es but as material objects often following to the photographic representation has im- a prescribed trajectory. Be it as a photo al- bued photographs with a certain kind of bum or book, postcard or poster, I wanted power, and it is this abstract idea shaping to find out how visual narratives are con- our ways of looking that informs much of structed, and to what end. An emphasis my research. As such I see photographs on the ‘series’ instead of the single image not as passive objects, but as active tools is evident in my research projects carried of mediation. While all of my research on out during my time on the programme, all the programme has of course been his- of which examined the use of photogra- torical, I approach these issues through phy for different ends. an interest in how the application and dis- tribution of photography function in our My research has focussed on a va- modern day. Despite an apparent democ- riety of subjects ranging from a personal ratization of the medium, current popular photographic album created by the British socio- aesthetic modes of image produc- photographer Walter Woodbury on his so- tion and dissemination seem to be restric- journ in Australia and Java, where instead tive by creating a ‘funnelling’ of vision and of partaking in the hoped-for gold rush he reflect the capitalist trajectory of the wider embarked on a photographic adventure imaging apparatus they are part of. I won- that saw him open one of the first photo- der if today implicit restrictions imposed graphic studios in Java, through the emer- by large networks - corporate and social gence of mass-amateur photography as it - are in fact more severe than restrictions is told through innumerable personal pho- imposed in the past, when official bodies tographic albums, and finally ending in a were still unable to understand, let alone dissertation on the construction of photo- cope with the masses of photographic im- graphic propaganda books in Austria-Hun- ages circulating in society. gary in World War 1, examining both photo- graphic objects and the whole apparatus Through rigorous historical research I of image-making with it. hope to lay a foundation for future work ex- 56

Research Profile Photography and Digital Media ploring systems of vision, and comprehend the world around us, past and present, as it is mediated on magical planes. 57

Knowledge

Exchang59e

Fleur Elkerton Mechanical Microcosms: Medieval Automata as Transmitters of Design Knowledge Where Medieval Europe and Islamicate countries, modern-day Baghdad When 900-1450 CE What History of technology, robotics, me chanics, engineering, knowledge transfer, medieval historiographies, nature, performance, metallurgy, magic, globalisation My research during the course has broad- My dissertation centres around me- ly focused on replication, reproduction dieval automata as highly designed and and knowledge transference of medieval technical objects, whilst exploring the design technologies - in both modern and place of design knowledge in a world medieval contexts. My object essay was where the word ‘design’ didn’t yet exist. an original analysis of a 1870s plaster Striving to broaden the design historical cast held at the V&A. It was cast in-situ, chronology, my research aims to examine in pink textured plaster, from the external the transfer of highly specialised design ornamental decoration of Sultan Hasan’s knowledge of automata from the medie- mosque (1356-63) in Cairo, before being val Islamicate world to medieval Europe. recast into white fine plaster in-house in It continues to analyse how knowledge of South Kensington. It is ultimately repre- complex machinery and metallurgy was sentative of an educational yet ‘othering’ transferred between craft/artisanal practi- relationship with medieval and non-West- tioners and scholars in emerging medieval ern architecture in nineteenth century European universities. This is evidenced Britain, and how reproductive technolo- by proving that there was a collaborative gies enabled this. language of craft, and shared cultural awareness of automata which suggests Researched in New York whilst on the potential for physical collaboration exchange to Bard Graduate College, my to create and build automata. Finally my historiography essay was an exploration of argument covers the performative nature the integration of ‘Gothic’ styles with early of medieval automata in Europe, how New York skyscraper design. In particular this perceived form of ‘foreign’ design I examined how this has generated a di- knowledge was elevated to promote and verse and multivalent field of scholarship entertain the elite. Ultimately I conclude spanning the last century and beyond. I how these mechanical devices not only concluded that the very flexibility of the illustrate sophisticated application of and ‘Skyscraper Gothic’ enables it to retain understanding of engineering design, but relevance and be constantly adapted into global transferences of this knowledge. different research, generating new and Alongside this they can highlight medieval contemporary insights in design histo- riography. 60

Research Profile Knowledge Exchange attitudes towards nature, and control over 1. Spencer Collection, The New York the natural world through technological Public Library. (1402). fol. 312r innovation. Retrieved from https://digitalcollec tions.nypl.org/items/bbbdcdd0- Whilst on the MA I continued to curate 09ad-0134-b6bb-00505686a51c my digital project, Sustainable Histories, 2. Ibid which is a platform to showcase historical 3. Johannes, de Fontana: Bellicorum objects which demonstrate repair, repur- instrumentorum liber cum figuris, posing or reuse, and recently wrote about Bayerische Staatsbibliothek this for the V&A Blog (https://www.vam. München, Cod.icon. 242, fol.63r ac.uk/blog/museum-life/va-youth-col- 4. Johannes, de Fontana: Bellicorum lective-objects-and-opinion-sustain- instrumentorum liber cum figuris, able-histories). I have also co-founded, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek with Anna Talley, in the spring of 2020 a München, Cod. icon. 242, fol.60r rapid-response digital archive, Design in 5. Villard de Honnecourt , Album de Quarantine, to collate design responses dessins et croquis, f.19v, to COVID-19. I am currently Curatorial As- Bibliothèque nationale de France, sistant at the University of Reading - Art https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/ Collections, and an active member of the btv1b10509412z/f40.item.zoom# V&A Youth Collective. 6. Villard de Honnecourt , Album de dessins et croquis, f.22v, Bibliothèque nationale de France, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/ btv1b10509412z/f46.item.zoom# 61

Toni Rutherford Exploring Armatures in Plaster Sculpture during the 19th Century: Materials, Construction, Influence and Transference of Skills Where London When 1837-1910 What sculpture, design schools, materials and knowledge transfer Coming from a practice-based and tech- this design change is fascinating and the nical background my research interests material culture of this change is some- have often lay in the transfer of knowl- thing I look forward to researching more edge and craft. This course has pushed in the future. me to develop my research practices al- lowing me to further explore these sub- This interest in knowledge transfer jects; to learn more about the practices of has culminated in my dissertation ex- the past that might inform the practices ploring armatures in plaster casts of the of tomorrow. nineteenth century. The research deals with the attitudes and materials involved Practices and knowledge transfer in creating the internal supports of plaster can be seen as a thread throughout my sculpture and reproductions. Exploring engagement with the course. For exam- the influence of the French art schools ple while studying Moulded Leather Cases and studios on the Government Schools from the fifteenth century, it became clear of Design curriculums and the influence these small unassuming leather cases of Italian practitioners on those creating held a wealth of practical knowledge. and installing plaster reproductions. This Knowledge which was revealed by looking research has been greatly aided by my closely at the material properties of individ- previous experience working with plaster ual cases and working with conservators, casting and sculptural materials. My own to gain material and process knowledge background in making allows me to see through experimentation. A process that the small, unseen, embodied knowledge is lost to time and, with limited written that migrating practitioners can bring to a sources, can now only be speculated upon creative community many of which are still based on the limited cases that have sur- used in plaster casting today. The chal- vived. I also researched how the knowl- lenge of exploring and telling the stories edge of abstract notions, Railway Time, of those unnamed practitioners and small were transferred into society. Exploring process changes through history has been how the change from solar to railway time really fascinating and one I hope to con- was communicated and became socially tinue. impactful, even in places without a train station. The breadth of the impact from My journey through this course has been incredible, one that I look forward to 62

Research Profile Knowledge Exchange taking forward in the future. The support 1. Conspicilla, Galle, Philipp, 1537- and knowledge networks that I have found 1612 Collaert, Joan, artisthttps:// through teachers, peers, and profession- collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/ als, is irreplaceable. nlm:nlmuid-101407470-img 2. Interior view of fibrous plaster casting workshop of Tanner & Sons, Liverpool ca1900. https:// collections.vam.ac.uk/item/ O178139/interor-view-of-fibrous- plaster-photograph-department- of-science/ 3. Inside lid detail, case w.173-1910, Woodwork and Furniture Depart- ment, Victoria and Albert Museum. Authors own 63

Yarden Levy Designing Designers: Educating Fashion Designers Through Gendered Ideals Where Israel When 2010-2020 What contemporary history, fashion history, fashion theory, Israel’s Westernisation, decapitalising histories, gendered histories, fashion designers’ ideals. My dissertation topic is inspired by Vir- My research commences with identi- ginia Woolf’s ‘A Room of One’s Own’, Lin- fying the fashion industry’s gendered ide- da Nochlin’s ‘Why Have There Been No als to be used in my dissertation. The most Great Women Artists?’, And Caroline Cri- prominent ideals were artistic freedom, ado-Perez’s ‘Invisible Women: Exposing autonomy and authorship concerning the Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’. consumer and the industry, career outside These three thought-changing written of Israel and absolute dedication to the job. works are laying out, each in its way, the Each one of these ideals is gendered in its gendering of creators. way and re-contextualises in Israeli cul- ture. With the ideals I located, I analyse my When I studied fashion design for my primary sources. In this analysis, I find that undergraduate degree in Israel, my home both the curriculum and the spoken and country, I felt my fellow students and I non-spoken educational messages deliv- are tracked to become a specific type of ered by the staff are gendered. Moreover, designer, and this designer is male. Even in the students’ interviews, I find that the though we were about fifty women and ten ideal student is out there, and his elusive men in the cohort, which is no exception to traits can be identified. other cohorts, we were taught to become a male fashion designer. Therefore, my During my studies in the V&A/RCA dissertation is researching the gendering History of Design MA, I found my love for of fashion design education in Israel. My learning and thinking about the process of case study is Shenkar College of Engineer- decapitalising histories and knowledge. In ing, Design and Art, Israel, which I gradu- the process of thinking about decapitalis- ated from in 2017, in the last decade. In ing fashion history, I try to demystify the my research, I ask how Shenkar College’s fashion designer as a sole genius creator Department of Fashion is designing the of fashion, as this mystification is a male, ideal student through the local and West- and male is the default in an industry made ern fashion industry’s gendered ideals. I of women. try to answer this question by interviewing a selection of the department’s staff, stu- dents and graduates and examining the department’s curriculum. 64

Research Profile Knowledge Exchange Screenshot from Ratsim La’Aguda, 2, Micha Me’Shenkar (Running for Student Union, 2, Micha from Shenkar), a campaign by the Israeli National Stu- dent Union with sketches representing the typical student from various local universities and colleges, Shenkar’s is represented by a male identifying char- acter (National Student Union, 2016). 65

Tomas Brown Ware and Care: Repair as Design at the Turn of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Where UK, East Coast of US When 1890-1910, 1986-2008 What conservation, repair, mending, professionalism, teaching, domestic, museological, interview, reconstruction, recycling, manuals, higher education My research focuses upon repair as a tion and interviews! In the future, I would design activity – exploring how we can like to pursue a PhD surrounding mend- understand mending as a process that ing and repairing, and to look for a way to pulls together all sorts of material and hu- blend academia with practice. Coming man agents, from users far in the future, from a background in philosophy, where to a chip or fracture far in the past. Over research tends to be exclusively cerebral, the course of the History of Design MA, I’m interested in writing histories which I have enjoyed working across a range of are ‘hands on’, and thoroughly grounded archives and subjects – from bone box- in the material. es tooled in Napoleonic prisoner of war camps, to the practice of stitching ceram- ic mends together with brass. In January 2020, I was selected for an exchange with the Bard Graduate Center, and worked with eminent conservators while taking part in their teaching surrounding digital archaeology and issues in conservation. This time partially inspired my dis- sertation project, which looks at mending as a democratised design process, and the interplay between semi-professional restoration and conservation. I’m working with two radically different case studies; a 1896 instructional work by Charles Le- land, ‘A Manual of Mending and Repair- ing’, and the experiences of graduates and staff of the RCA/V&A’s Conservation MA. Particularly during COVID19, these have demanded a willingness to experiment with my research methods – at the mo- ment I’m experimenting with reconstruc- 66

Research Profile Knowledge Exchange 1. Repaired Yixing Teapot, FE.3-2003, Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum 2. Bone games casket, A.17-1919, Sculpture, Victoria and Albert Museum 3. Ceramic boring, Author’s own 67

Artefacts

of Performance69

Emma O’Regan-Reidy The Material Culture of Solange Knowles from 2016-2019: An Exploration of How the Production, Design and Consumption of Solange’s Music Videos Form Her Brand Where USA When 2016-2019 What celebrity, media studies, digital dissemination I’m a freelance writer, editor and illus- output. The economic factors and techni- trator based in Dublin, Ireland. Before cal – as well as creative – labour behind this course, I graduated from Universi- these videos are often uncovered by the ty College Dublin’s English Literature press, resulting in a mythologisation of So- and Film Studies BA. At the start of this lange which fortifies celebrity status and 15-month MA programme, I researched brand. By utilising design as a strategy sur- dining trends and popular foods in Vic- rounding and within her music videos, and torian London through the sole source through testimonies on digital publications of a lace menu in the V&A’s collection. and social media, Solange is propelled to In the second unit, I analysed the impact the top of the creative hierarchy. Although of deindustrialisation on high street and music videos are one of the primary medi- couture fashion in the US from the 90s to ums through which the average consumer today and the class implications of these receives music in 2020, these visuals are trends. rarely discussed in academic and journal- istic contexts. This dissertation argued the My dissertation is titled: The Material significant impact they have on contem- Culture of Solange Knowles from 2016- porary entertainment brand building and 2019: An Exploration of How the Produc- marketing. tion, Design and Consumption of Sol- ange’s Music Videos Form Her Brand. Like Though my research interests are most major celebrity musicians, Solange varied, I continue to explore these multi- effectively utilises music videos to shape faceted topics through my work as a free- her brand identity. The dissertation aimed lance writer and illustrator. Currently, I am to challenge the notion that Solange has a monthly columnist for ScreensShot Me- sole agency over these visuals and their dia where I trace trends in contemporary dissemination, despite her title of Creative food, technology and fashion at all levels Director on most of her brand. Mecha- of consumption. nisms of communication – such as digital publications and social media – encourage both the press and fans to also participate in this construction of her brand through their responses and coverage of Solange’s 70

Research Profile Artefacts of Performance 1. Mansion House: Monday, May 21st, 1849 Menu. Paper lace and ink. London: 1849. E.12-1935. Prints and Drawings Collections, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 2. Collage of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. Exposed Zippers Blog. 2017. Accessed February 26, 2020. 3. When I Get Home vinyl and prints. Black Planet. https://solange.black planet.com/product/when-i-get- home-vinyl-tote-prints/ Accessed September 6, 2020. 71

Claire Wimbush Art of survival: Material Culture of the Soviet Gulag Where USA, Global When 2011-Today What graphic design, UI/UX, modernism My MA research has been varied in sub- During my research on ‘Kabarett’, I ject matter and yet has had a consistent came across the concept of cabarets that theme of exploring identity. I am interest- were performed in concentration camps ed in how identity has been imbued into during the Holocaust. This sparked an in- objects and what the study of material terest in objects created during periods of culture can teach us about the past.  duress and oppression; I was intrigued by both the materiality of how these objects My first research project was an ob- were made and also the agency that they ject study of an 1895 Czech poster from gave prisoners, the why. My dissertation the V&A collections advertising an Ethno- focused on the material culture of the So- graphic Exhibition. This project explored viet Gulag, from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. the materiality of the poster, looking into This research examined the significance chromolithography as an art in the late of art, craft, music and performance in the nineteenth century, as well as uncovering navigation of identity and the maintenance the phenomenon of ‘ethnographic exhi- of agency for prisoners. My first chapter bitions’ during this period by comparing considered legal creation in the Gulag and various posters for such events in Europe, how prisoners were forced to create state ranging across Madrid, Prague, Brussels propaganda with their artistic and theatri- and Latvia. The final element of this project cal skills. My second chapter critically an- considered the depiction of folk costume alysed clandestine creations such as toys, in this poster and how such narratives gifts and cushions that were made in se- played into the national Czech identity. As cret. The second chapter of this disserta- I had chosen the Performance pathway tion went on to be accepted for publication on the MA, I wanted to explore a theatre in the Spring 2021 publication of Slovo, the practise in my second project. I chose to postgraduate journal at SSEES, UCL. investigate the changing nature of the art of ‘Kabarett’ against the fluctuations of the socio-political scene in Germany from 1918-1930. This project considered how the art altered its content in response to political and economic occurrences, and mapped the ebb and flow of its popularity in German society.  72

Research Profile Artefacts of Performance 73

Eve MacNeill Connecting to the Material in the Absence of Material The first 6 months of our MA experience was full of hands-on interac- tions with objects and participation in events, exhibitions, and archi- val projects. As well as our academic work, many of us got stuck into projects which brought us into direct contact with people, places and things. In this section of longer essays, we start with Deepika Srivas- tava recalling two projects that she was involved with which dealt with interactivity and inclusion in the world of Design - back when physical interactivity was a possibility for us all. 74

Features Introduction Despite this start to our course, the last year has seen our work thrown dramatically into a new dimension - we have become Material Historians working in a virtual world. Of course, this has always been a problem that Design and Material Historians have grappled with to a certain extent. When material doesn’t survive or is difficult to record or access, Design Historians must be creative. Jordan Mitchell-King writes about the possibilities of Reconstruction as a Historical Methodology in this vein, while Freya Purcell shares her thoughts about sensory recre- ation as a way of accessing the material in its absence. However, the pandemic has underlined and exasperated the issue of accessing ‘The Material’ even further - even surviving material is tantalis- ingly out of reach as our museums, archives, design studios, universities, galleries, and libraries are closed . So how can we practice Design History in this environment? One response is to come up with unique ways of archiving objects online. Genevieve Drinkwater, Tomas Brown and Freya Purcell have cre- ated the UK’s first mapped archive ‘Word on the Street’, which collects crowd-sourced photographs of street art across the last year. Genevieve tells us about the thoughts and ideas that fed into the creation of the DHS Virtual Event Award- winning archive. Anna Talley and Fleur Elkerton founded the DHS Virtual Design His- tory Student Award- winning digital archive ‘Design in Quarantine’, which works to document and preserve Design responses to the Coronavirus pandemic in real time. Anna and Fleur’s essay discusses the possibili- ties of the digital space as a tool for Design Historian’s rapid-response collecting. Denise Lai has been working with the Malaysia Design Archive on an- other DHS Virtual Design History Student Award winning project digitising many visual sources that she came across in her research surrounding Wawasan 2020. Her piece explores the process of uncovering this mate- rial, and working with the digital archive to preserve her research. Another way to work as a Design Historian in this virtual world is to embrace the virtual space as an alternative, less formal platform to talk about research. Abigail Barthee and Alyssa Myers have teamed up to create the blog ‘Out of Touch, Out of Time’ over the last year - they share with us the benefits of the blog format for creating public-facing, acces- sible and fun content. Of course, the virtual world isn’t just a platform to archive or talk about Design - there are many examples of Design that exist purely in digital form. This selection of essays closes with Denise Lai, Freya Purcell and Emma O’Regan-Reidy’s piece looking at the designed space of online gaming as a place to express and explore real-world events. 75

Deepika Srivastava Representing the Value of Design “Creative works are central to our human- The interpretation project at the V&A ity”1... yet their value is more symbolic involved conducting surveys of visitors’ re- than material. In the context of design and sponses to some exhibits situated in the architecture, this manifests in underpaid galleries of the Museum of Childhood, and jobs (especially at the entry-level), lack of preparing a report about the same for the urban planning initiatives to accommo- exhibition design team. Since the museum date such professionals, lack of institu- is undergoing renovation and some of its tional policies, and often little public en- galleries are being redesigned, these ex- gagement with and discourse about their hibits were set up as a way to gauge the work, though the landscape is changing way forward when designing the exhib- without a doubt. This realisation as an un- its. All four exhibits were designed to be dergraduate student of architecture and participative, and to foster the spirit of interior design in India, though initially ‘play’ among the visitors (Figure 1). This disturbing and nerve-wrecking, has made project required engaging with children me conscious about working towards of different age groups and their parents, the representation and value-generation at times to help them engage with the ex- of architecture and design vis-a-vis the hibits, but also to record their responses creative and cultural industries. In this via a structured, digital survey. It was an article, I am going to talk about two proj- introduction in how ideas of design can be ects I did during my MA which reflect this disseminated to children while keeping the interest. One, as a volunteer working on medium interactive. an interpretation project at the Museum of Childhood, Victoria & Albert Museum, The second project wherein I wrote and second, through an essay titled, ‘Co- an essay on coworking spaces, and if they working spaces - A new workspace for can be viable workspaces for creative in- creative industry professionals in India?’, dustry professionals in India (Figure 2). The I wrote for an essay competition in India, lens of design history here was useful in the premise of which was to invite a re- breaking down the directory of coworker. sponse to an urban condition in South com to decode the patterns its structure and Southeast Asia. exposed about how coworking spaces are directed towards IT professionals, though on the surface they seem to be directed 76

Feature towards all kinds of creative professionals “Both of these projects The directory is structured around various required me to engage with filters such as nature of amenities and ur- ban infrastructure in the vicinity, among and think about how others, to make the search of relevant to make design more inclusive coworking spaces easier for the user. In this essay, I used the directory for two and accessible” metropolitan cities of India (Mumbai and Bengaluru), to understand and compare design more inclusive and accessible. the nature of coworking spaces in the two They did this in two ways - one, through cities. mainstream representation of design by curating narratives which appeal to visi- After establishing using empirical ev- tors of different age groups, and the other, idence that coworking spaces cater more by looking at how designed spaces can to IT professionals than those in the cre- be improved to suit the needs of creative ative industries despite the presence of industry professionals. In doing so, they amenities which cater to the latter as well, provide a lens to look at design as a tool to I discuss some challenges that lie in de- realise the full potential of people. signing and attaining suitable workspaces for creative industry professionals which 1. Display at the V&A Museum of touch on issues of where creatives are lo- Childhood, depicting the museum’s cated, which is often in the non-commer- curatorial aim. cial/ residential areas (and the need for 2. This snapshot of the directory at cultural planning initiatives), unregulated coworker.com show how the income streams, and the fact that differ- website is accessed. The city can ent professionals have different spatial be searched at the top, there is a needs. In doing so, I highlight the factors navigable google map on the right, that should be considered while designing with the filters on the left. and ‘marketing’ coworking spaces to cre- ative industry professionals. 1. David Slocum, ‘Five questions with Mukti Khaire on the roles of culture critics, entrepreneurs, and leaders’, Both of these projects required me to Forbes, 29 July 2017. Accessed 4 January 2021. engage with and think about how to make 77

Jordan Mitchell-King Reconstruction as Historical Methodology Making an Eighteenth-Century Quilted Waistcoat The subject of my dissertation was quilted waistcoats and jumps in eighteenth-century Britain. They were informal garments worn across the century by women across classes. While many survive in museums and private collections, references to them in the historical record is sparse and vague as to their distinctions. For this reason, I utilised em- bodied methodologies, one of which was reconstruction as research, in order to attempt to access the unwritten knowledge of historical making practices. How and where these garments were worn varied, and informed the cultural associations surrounding them. Personal writings and visual sources indicate that quilted waistcoats and jumps were considered items of ‘undress’. The meaning of undress fluctuates across class, but generally refers to informal dress, and could be compared to loungewear today, with nuanced meanings depending on context and wearer. Quilted waistcoats and jumps were made by seamstresses and tailors during the eighteenth-century. The two garments were broadly similar but appear to be distinguished to some extent in historical refer- ences. Quilted waistcoats were completely unboned and relied entirely on the quilting for stiffening and were made by seamstresses. Jumps were quilted waistcoats with the addition of boning, lightly placed along side seams, centre back, or centre front to add some support. New quilted waistcoats were generally available directly from seamstresses, or in the shops of linen drapers and haberdashers, while jumps were available from staymakers. Reconstruction of historical clothing has existed for a long time in re-enactment and living history communities but has only started to gain traction as an academic historical research methodology in recent years. Sarah Bendall and Ulinka Rublack have made use of reconstruc- 78

Feature tion in their research on early modern clothing, making a case for its place as a valuable addition to archival and visual source materials. Hil- ary Davidson has written on what she terms the ‘embodied turn’, a new methodological approach which uses reconstruction as a means to explore the materiality of the clothing of the past. My dissertation project sought to build on these uses of reconstruc- tive approaches, embracing Davidson’s term of ‘experimental history’ to encapsulate the methodology used. This involved both reconstruction for the purposes of understanding making practices, and experimental wearing to engage with the material reality of quilted waistcoats and jumps when worn on a moving body and with other eighteenth-century garments. Here I will discuss the process and findings of my reconstruc- tion practice. The Process The first stage was to establish the common material and construction qualities of surviving quilted waistcoats. This provided a firm basis from which to select a suitable choice for reconstruction, ultimately selecting a yellow silk waistcoat in the collection of Chertsey Museum, MT.3042. In almost all ways MT.3042 possesses the features found most com- monly across those reviewed. The lack of boning or boning channels places this garment in the category of a quilted waistcoat, rather than jumps. In order to reconstruct MT.3042 a pattern was taken directly from the garment using a method that minimises risk of damage while providing an accurate pattern. It was also studied closely, with photographs of stitching and construction taken for reference. Another two quilted waistcoats were also viewed in person for additional construction information and to corroborate findings from MT.3042. Most of the tools required were simple ones, common to any seam- stresses kit for centuries. Needles, thimbles, pins and scissors have all remained broadly similar enough that modern equivalents were perfectly suitable. Research demonstrated that quilting would have been done on large frames to accommodate a whole panel. However, space and bud- getary limitations required a concession to practical limitations. Smaller frames that rested on laps or tables were used for embroidery and so this was adapted by rolling the fabric at either end. The pattern was adapted to fit a modern size UK 10-12 to allow later experimental wearing. Following this, a mock-up was completed to check the fit. The fabric had to be prepped before quilting by basting all the layers together to ensure they remained smooth and on-grain. The fabric was then mounted in the frame by wrapping it around the dowels at either end and rolling to pull it taut. Tape was then wrapped around the sides and pinned to the fabric to tighten in the other direction. 79

Jordan Mitchell-King “[My research] involved both reconstruction for the purpos- es of understanding making practices, and experimental wearing to engage with the ma- terial reality of quilted waist- coats and jumps when worn on a moving body and with other eighteenth-century garments.” The quilting itself was done in a spaced running stitch as seen on the original, using chalk markings as pattern guidance. This was fairly simple work but incredibly time consuming. Constructing the waistcoat itself was also straightforward and used common period sewing techniques. A mantuamaker’s seam was used, which folds the seam over twice and whipstitches through all layers. This has the effect of sewing the seam and finishing the edges in one. The lining was set into the waistcoat leaving the finished side seams ex- posed, presumably to allow alterations. All raw edges were bound in silk tape, eyelets were worked in the shoulders for ties and ribbon fastenings attached to the front. Timings Quilting: 33 hours Construction: 14 hours Total time to make: 47 hours Findings Based on the increased speed of my work as I got more experienced, the time for completion is estimated to drop to around 35-40 hours. For an experienced eighteenth-century seamstress, this time could have reached 30 hours or less. Long hours were characteristic of a seamstresses working day. If we allowed for a 10-hour working day, this waistcoat represents approximately 3 days of work. The originals studied show the mantuamaker’s seam was slightly altered to reduce bulk by trimming back some fabric. This contradicted my hypothesis that quilted waistcoats were left as flat panels until pur- chased and then sewn up for the client to ensure the correct fit, as was often done with quilted petticoats. The intersection of construction 80

Feature techniques rendered this impossible. However, the fitting and wearing process demonstrated that the design of these garments makes them incredibly size-flexible thanks to the ties and the curved edges. This sug- gests that waistcoats did not have to be carefully fit in order to work well for a customer. It seems likely that seamstresses and staymakers could use basic models without needing to tailor to the client. This supports the possibility that they were sold ready-made, as their presence in shops selling other ready-made items suggests. Mounting the fabric into the frame demonstrated that this in itself is a skilled task. It seems highly likely that at least two people would have been needed to mount in a frame larger than the user’s arm span. Doing this task takes both dexterity and strength to hold the fabric and pin it while under tension. Having a small degree of slack on the fabric actually helped to speed up the stitching process, and so tensioning the fabric required a balancing act to hit the right point. What seemed like a simple setting up element proved to be a key skill which directly affected the final outcome. For the quilting, it was clear that a thimble would be needed to pro- tect the finger pushing the needle into the fabric. As I proceeded, the need for some additional protection and grip while pulling the needle out quickly became obvious. A modern solution is rubberised grips slipped over the thumb and index finger. Thimbles of strong leather were used in the eighteenth-century as well as metal ones, and it seems highly proba- ble that contemporary seamstresses and quilters may have used a more flexible version, perhaps with roughness added through light scoring, to create a better grip and protect the fingers. Some of these findings seem like only small details that may not have huge historical significance. But considering them adds to the ‘thickness’ of our understanding of the lives of seamstresses in the past where there is so little explicit evidence surviving. Reconstruction provided a tool that can provide insights into tacit and tactile knowledge inaccessible in traditional historical sources. 81

Freya Purcell Walking a City in My Mind Two hundred and seven years ago, John Richardson made his way to work at St Martins Lane. On his way he stopped to drink a bowl of sa- loop, a hot, perfumed drink that was adopted from Turkey earlier in the century. Richardson was not alone in this daily ritual, as my research on Saloop revealed many labouring Londoners turned to vendors for their breakfast. In fact Richardson’s action echoes down through time, appearing so reminiscent of the little daily rituals we have when going to work or studying; such as grabbing a daily coffee on the journey into work. That was at least until last March, in 2020, when lockdown came into effect in the UK. As businesses were shut, and individual’s stayed home to protect each other, these daily habits and routines disappeared from many people’s lives. Examining these daily routines of over a hun- dred years ago it was hard to escape the poignancy the pandemic had brought to the project. From the start of my project investi- “Examining these daily gating the saloop stall it was clear that I would need to approach the research dif- routines of over a hundred ferently to other projects I had done in the years ago, it was hard to escape past. Firstly, lockdown would prevent ac- cess to typical archive or object research. the poignancy the pandemic Secondly, the saloop stall had not been had brought to the project.” researched before and no material ele- ments of the stall, these factors making it clear I needed to find a different perspective to tackle the subject. The concept I found most useful for this was examining the stall in relation to space. Exploring how the stall was interwoven with the spaces and rhythms of the day. 82

Feature It was the spaces of the city that provided some of the most enjoy- able/rewarding research of the project. Court cases provide glimpses into the pattern of the city and contemporary texts provide some further information. However it was in mapping the cases that it began to really click with me how the stall fitted within the wider context of the city. Key to this was using the Layers of London website. This allows individuals to map records and data sets, on everything from medieval buildings to punk london. After placing my data set, I was able to layer them over contempo- rary maps, with two proving particularly useful. It was by putting the cases on the maps, that how the saloop slotted into the city really came clear to me. The cluster of sellers around covent garden catering the late night revellers and theatre crowd before the early morning market gardeners. The smattering of stalls near the rivers edge all located near wharfs and the busy river of London. Through examining Old Bailey court records and combining them with maps and slowly patterns began to emerge. The carters grabbing a bowl of saloop during their long early shift to the revellers grabbing a cup at the end of a boozy night out. The place of saloop within London Life, and the rhythms of the city more generally, became clearer. Evidence suggested the most common use for saloop was as a breakfast dish often consumed on the way to work, as in the case of John Richardson. While the second trend in consumption appeared to be as a hangover cure as part of evenings out. It was this sense of how the saloop stall was intertwined with daily life and the daily connections with people you make when living in the city that was most poignant to me while researching. Throughout the evidence it was clear that the Saloop stall was not simply a space of con- venience, one where you could grab your bowl and walk off. Instead it was a social space. A place to gather with friends as George Price did on his evening out or perhaps just a place to enjoy the humdrum socabilty of city life as Elias’s essay The Praise of Chimney Sweeps seemed to suggest. Experiences I found myself envying as I went through records, cut off from enjoying the buzz of the coffee shops (my favourite place to write). Placed at the same desk day in day out, I felt worlds away. Certainly not living in the same city. Yet it was this feeling that also made me see the importance of researching these stalls. Lockdown has highlighted, to me at least, how much this city of London is made from these small routines and ephemeral spaces like the Saloop Stall. 83

Genevieve Drinkwater A Nation Galvanised into Expression Lockdown wasn’t all bad. Sometimes, virus was a hoax, scrawled conspiratorial when you’re faced with restrictions, you messages about the so-called ‘plandemic’ wind up doing more meaningful things on the seats of public transport. Others with less resources. So, when museums expressed their outrage at the murder of and libraries began closing their doors George Floyd in the US by making protest to the public, the world migrated online, placards proclaiming that the UK was not, and my commute into central London be- as some had complacently believed, inno- came a thing of the past, I suddenly had cent. Others vented their anger at the gov- an abundance of extra time on my hands. ernment’s mishandling of the pandemic Unable to stray too far from where I lived, and took to the streets to graffiti public I looked for things that would stimulate spaces (‘#borishasfailed’ was a particu- my academic interests locally. I’d always larly memorable tag). Some who had be- been interested in the various methods come more environmentally aware during archivists have used to collect and curate lockdown painted colourful murals – re- their collections so, when I began notic- joicing at the sudden ‘Anthropause’ when ing a deluge of pandemic-related signs wildlife began to reclaim urban spaces in shopfronts and residential buildings in back from noisy, car-driving humans who my hometown, Brighton, I whipped out had suddenly retreated indoors. Later, my phone and started taking photos. when retailers and pubs owners were al- lowed to reopen, they scrambled to create Cycling around on my bike, it felt social-distancing signs, hoping that the as- like everyone was experiencing a range ymptomatic bodies floating around their of emotions that were either brought on premises abided by the rules. or exacerbated by the events of 2020. It was all reflected in the built environment But what would happen to all these around me. All I had to do was look. Some fleeting signs and messages when the people came together in an outpour- public inevitably decided to take them ing of praise for the NHS; kids chalked down? Or worse: censor and throw them pavements with spontaneous messages away? Who, I wondered, was documenting thanking key workers, and elderly people it all for posterity? Collaborating remotely proudly adorned their windows with touch- with Freya Purcell and Tomas Brown ing knitted rainbows. Some, believing the (and many Zoom calls, late nights, and 84

Feature Figure 1-2 85

Genevieve Drinkwater Figure 3-4 86

Feature “The aim is to preserve otherwise fleeting expressions of community and protest.’ ‘You learn how important the little scraps that make up a social history are, and how easily they can be lost irrevocably” coffees later!), WORD ON THE STREET fully and as objectively as possible. You (www.wordonthestreetcollection.uk) was learn how important the little scraps that born. As the UK’s first mapped archive make up a social history are, and how eas- of crowd-sourced photography captured ily they can be lost irrevocably. in the wake of the pandemic, WORD ON THE STREET will be a rich resource for fu- The biggest lesson of all though – ture researchers hoping to get a glimpse one that I will treasure forever – is the im- of what life was like during a year of un- portance of human connections, even if precedented social and economic up- they are only 'virtual'. Without being able heaval. In addition to a gallery of archive to meet people physically, the archive has highlights, the free-to-use website also allowed me to connect, laugh (and often has an interactive map (which took al- cry) about the crazy times we’re living most four very tiring but rewarding days through. Collecting the good, the bad, of my life to programme...) that allows and the downright ugly this year, it’s clear visitors to compare and contrast photos that we’ve become a nation galvanised from across the UK in real-time. The aim into expression, and I’m pleased to have is to preserve otherwise fleeting expres- preserved a small part of it for posterity. sions of community and protest. And, with the generous (and often extremely 1. Church Street, Brighton heart-warming) help of the public, the 2. Ouse Valley Nature Reserve collection of photography gathered there 3. Glen Doyle, Hove, East Sussex continues to grow daily. 4. Ibid I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons since starting the project. I’ve learned that when you engage in rapid-response archiving processes, you’re forced to think about what you collect (and what you in- evitably leave out). You learn and make mistakes about how to contextualise and present different types of material culture across multiple digital platforms as faith- 87

Fleur Elkerton and Anna Talley Design in Quarantine on Digitally Archiving Pandemic Designs in Real Time Figure 1 88

Feature We founded Design in Quarantine (DiQ) Figure 2 in April 2020 to document, preserve and provide a research resource, in real-time, reasons, the first being financial and the for design responses to the Coronavirus second, methodological. Our first year on pandemic. The sudden closure of muse- the platform has been free, as Cargo Col- ums, libraries and archives forced a shift lective was offering a complimentary year upon traditional design research meth- of hosting for digital projects related to the odologies and forms of archiving and, in- pandemic. Such an offer allowed projects spired by the technique of rapid-response like ours to launch quickly as the pandemic curation, our fully digital collection pro- took hold, revealing the impact temporary vides an example of changing research fee waivers can have in supporting the cre- methods in light of a global crisis—an ex- ation of non-profit projects by removing periment in real-time. financial barriers. Over nine months, we collected nearly When designing the navigation of the five hundred works we believe are integral site, we deliberately wanted to avoid creat- to representing the evolution and variety of ing exclusionary taxonomies in an attempt design responses to the coronavirus pan- to combat implicit biases and consciously demic. The methodology we used to “ac- reject hierarchies. We designed the web- quire” work was adapted from the Victoria site to randomise the entries displayed on and Albert Museum’s rapid-response col- the home page each time an individual vis- lecting practice, employed by the Design, its and restricted sorting the entries into Architecture and Digital department. This six broad categories: architecture, graph- type of collecting was introduced in 2014 ics, objects, projects, space, and wear- to acquire works that are ‘in response to ables, thereby providing only a base level major moments in recent history’ (V&A). of organisation. This randomisation and Our speed of collecting mimicked the looseness in our site works to subvert tra- speed at which designers were creating ditional methods of archiving and research works in response to the pandemic, thus, and can be seen to reflect the chaos of allowing us to respond to the coronavirus the world as it came to grips with the pan- as quickly as designers were themselves. demic. As ICON magazine described the With the flexibility of an independently run site, ‘a disorderly archive is perhaps the archive, we can be open to designs from a sincerest record of our history’ (Lin, 2020, variety of disciplines and have collected a p.30). range of responses across fields including graphics, architectural concepts, product and furniture design, and craft. Works col- lected often relate to broader issues con- cerning the pandemic such as mental and physical health, evolving technologies and societal change. We have also accepted submissions and have received a number of designs from individuals, firms and stu- dios all over the world. Design in Quarantine is served on the US-based web hosting platform Cargo Collective. We chose this platform for two 89

Fleur Elkerton and Anna Talley “Inspired by the technique when we came across a project we wanted of rapid-response curation, our to add to the archive, which led to the in- fully digital collection provides clusion of many projects by emerging de- signers and craftspeople. an example of changing research methods in light of a Our frequent presence on social global crisis—an experiment in media also illustrates how we encourage wider exposure for the projects we collect. real-time”. We cooperate in running our social media accounts on Twitter (@Design_inQ) and Figure 3 Instagram (@design_in_quarantine) and post projects from the archive on each platform. This ensures that audiences who might not visit the site still have a way to view and access the archive’s content. It also underscores the importance we give to only using free, accessible platforms for the public to interact with the material. Neither of us had previous expe- rience with using these platforms for sharing content and promoting a large research project such as this, and have used DiQ as a way to expand our digital skill sets, skills we believe will be key to curatorial practice in the future. Methodologically, hosting our site on Figure 4 Cargo Collective further integrates us with the communities we represent in the ar- chive, as it is a web design platform that is often used by designers. This integration with the design community has been a core aim of the project and is also demon- strated by the project’s presence on social media platforms. We became even more engaged with our audience after beginning to actively outreach for submissions on social me- dia, which led us to think more proactively about our collection process. To find new projects, particularly those not necessar- ily featured in popular design media, we began searching hashtags like #covidde- sign and #pandemicdesign on Instagram. We would comment or message creators 90

Collected, conceptualised and living Feature in the now, DiQ will continue to function beyond the end of the pandemic when 1. Homepage of Design in Quarantine. used as a research resource in the future. https://designinquarantine.com. The digital afterlives of collections in our 2. Hand-written notes from early now very virtual world was something meetings. These notes were used which concerned us as we were plan- to inform shared planning docu- ning the project, as many websites seem ments on Google Drive. so ephemeral. We ensured our site was 3. Randomised first page with a selec- saved on Way Back Machine and applied tion of projects included in the for it to be archived by UK Web Archive. We archive. were successfully chosen, and archived 4. Entry number 288 in the archive copies of Design in Quarantine are avail- is a mass sanitation tractor able on-site in the Bodleian, Cambridge designed by Rajendra Jadhav, University Libraries, Trinity College Dub- a self-taught engineer from lin, National Libraries of Scotland and the Nashik in India. https:// British Library. We hope that storage on designinquarantine.com/288-Yash the Web Archive’s servers will preserve the want-mass-sanitation-tractor. data of our site indefinitely and give future researchers the capability to access the archive. A database for the present and an ar- chive for the future, Design in Quarantine engages socially, culturally and intellectu- ally with relevant research questions for both practitioners and historians in the global design community. We aim to show that “history” is not always in the past, it is happening now, and that archived ma- terial can be part of the evolving story of COVID-19 now and in years to come through its investigation by designers and researchers. 91

Denise Lai Wawasan 2020 Archive x Malaysian Design Archive Since May 2020, I have been developing The archive’s collection began with an archive of designed materials relating first day covers from the years 1980 to to Wawasan 2020, Malaysia’s flagship 2010, which I acquired from Malaysian development programme, in collaboration flea markets during my research trip to with the Malaysian Design Archive in Malaysia last summer. These objects Kuala Lumpur. are routinely produced by the Malaysian postal service to mark the issue of each The impetus behind the archive was new set of postage stamps. They consist my dissertation: ‘Visualising Wawasan of a decorated envelope, the new stamps 2020 : Aspirations for a Modern Malaysia’. in issue and detailed information about the The initial search for primary sources in- event or national achievement which the volved scrolling through online forums, issue commemorates. During the height interviewing researchers and designers, of Wawasan 2020, first day covers were following leads through their recommen- decorated with themes celebrating the dations, and at times digging into my own programme’s ideologies, Malaysia’s sci- personal archive of drawings I made as entific and technological feats, and the a young student in Malaysia which my values and ambitions of its ‘modern citi- mother (from whom I have also inherited zens’. The nature of their design and their my hoarding tendencies) had kept in our dissemination reveal the ways state-led vi- basement. Recognising the lack of a sin- sions of modernity were circulated locally gle coherent archive, the Wawasan 2020 and internationally. archive is an attempt to collate these materials together, to create a useful re- The designs of these first day covers source for potential design researchers capture the conventional narrative of Wa- and to catalyse a re-examination of the wasan 2020 as a state-led programme. In development programme at the year of its reality, however, Wawasan 2020 was re- supposed climax. fracted kaleidoscopically throughout Ma- 92

Feature Figure 1-3 93

Denise Lai Figure 4-5 94

Feature “Recognising the lack of a single coherent archive, the Wawasan 2020 archive is an attempt to... create a useful resource for potential design researchers and to catalyse a re-examination of the development programme at the year of its supposed climax” laysian society. To reflect this, subsequent promulgating a material culture of specu- acquisitions for the archive feature various lative Malaysian modernities. As well as objects designed by the Malaysian popu- providing an insight into one of Malaysia’s lace which were inspired by and ultimately central political projects post-indepen- served to shape the legacy of Wawasan dence, it is hoped that the archive can con- 2020. Examples include: a popular comic tribute to a broader discussion of the role set in a utopian Kuala Lumpur in the year design plays in development programmes 2020, architectural renderings for a sym- across the Global South, from the African bolic monument erected to commemorate Union’s Agenda 2063 to Saudi Arabia’s the upcoming millennium, and speculative Vision 2030. The rich diversity of design designs for futuristic submarines by local surrounding Wawasan 2020 is a reminder design students. that these programmes can be fruitfully understood as lively design phenomena. I am highly grateful for the opportunity More generally, the project demonstrates to collaborate with the Malaysian Design that the Global South presents a rich and Archive (MDA) on this project, without largely untapped vein of sources for con- whose input this project would have been temporary design historians to explore. impossible. MDA is a not-for-profit archive In this respect, as the official design of of visual culture in Malaysia based in Kuala Wawasan 2020 so frequently proclaimed, Lumpur and is the largest digital repository ‘Malaysia Boleh! ’. of cultural material relating to Malaysia. I am particularly grateful for research fellow 1. Spirit of the New Malaysian. Cover Lim Sheau Yun and archivist Nadia Nasa- #1 (front). The Millennium Series III. ruddin’s support in acquiring, cataloguing 20 Feb 2000. First day cover. and digitising objects for the Wawasan Lithographic print on paper. 2020 archive. With their guidance and ex- 220 mm x 147 mm. Pos Malaysia. pertise, the archive has now digitised 58 ‘Wawasan 2020’ collection, Malay objects with plans to continue expanding sia Design Archive. its online collection. 2. Vendors stalls at the weekend flea market at Amcorp Mall, By treating Wawasan 2020 as a pre- Selangor, photograph, 2020. dominantly visual - as opposed to legis- 3. Cataloguing acquisitions with lative - programme, one is able to escape Sheau at the Malaysia Design the narrative of the programme as an eco- Archive, Kuala Lumpur, photograph, nomic failure and focus, instead, on its 2020. partial success in creating and effectively 4. Wawasan 2020 online cata- logue, Malaysia Design Archive, website (accessed 29 Jan 2021). 5. Penyu 2020, Date Unknown, Digital Render, Five Arts Centre archive. 95

Abigail Barthee and Alyssa Meyers Out of Touch and Out of Time Blogging in Quarantine It is probably safe to say that 2020 was from the fact that Covid19 and social iso- not the easiest year to organise public lation had meant that we have fallen out facing history, there was a lot of virus of touch with our studies and the field of being spread, people stuck at home and design history generally. The blog there- heritage sites being quite closed. But all fore was a chance for us to re-engage with was not lost for the writers of the world our field of study, while ensuring that we as the solution of how to spread the word continue to flatten the curve! You should about topics like design history, ceramics definitely go follow our blog on our super and fashion without face-to-face inter- cool Instagram (@outoftouchoutoftime) action was invented all the way back in and Twitter (@outoftouch2020), or if you 1994. The blog. These bite sized chunks are feeling really motivated, you can visit of information contained in a neat little the full blog at https://outoftouchoutof- post are the ideal way to find out about time2020.wordpress.com/. the weird and wonderful details of topics you may have never heard of, but some We aimed to create a blog that was poor soul has probably been researching not academic, a bit informal, and generally for months! And so, in the midst of the quite interesting to read. We spent a lot of first lockdown, one lost and scared ac- time talking to academics. And working ademic turned to another and said, ‘we with academics. And you know, being aca- should so write a blog’. demics. We are both very passionate about heritage and bringing art, design and his- So, here we are. Many months, multi- tory to EVERYONE and we really wanted a ple posts and a particularly stressful ‘Blog- chance to talk about these things in a way mas’ period later, to tell you all about our that was different and unique. We wanted experiences in the world of weblogging. to make design and art history accessi- Let us start at the beginning. We named ble to the casual reader, in a low-key and the blog Out of Touch and Out of Time (or virtual way. OOT OOT for short). This name evolved 96

Feature “The blog. These bite sized Acceptable English Cleavage has brought chunks of information con- to life the interconnectivity of fashion and tained in a neat little post are the roles that women played throughout the ideal way to find out about history. During ‘Blogmas’ she also focused the weird and wonderful de- on exciting English Christmas traditions tails of topics you may have like carols, decorations, and mince pies! (Even making an old school version of never heard of...” mince pies herself!) Alyssa has focused much of her work We have truly learnt so much through on the development and changes in dec- creating and writing for this blog. Things orative arts. She has done a superb job of like consistency, working as part of a brand breaking down complex art theories and and how to design and maintain a blog taught our readers how to really analyse (spoiler alert - it is NOT as easy as it may and read works of art. Her truest passions look). It has been very fun. And we have in the art and design world though are fo- also had the opportunity to communicate cused on the history of European interior our work to a non-expert audience, skills design and she has recently come to spe- that perhaps we might not have learnt, had cialize in English ceramics from around the we not been forced to adapt through the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries year. (ish).  And last but certainly not least… Abi on the other hand, writes far more THANK YOU to everyone who has helped about the development of fashion history support this passion project of ours!  in Europe (read: England with European influences). Her series on the History of 1. Out of Touch, Out of Time logo, courtesy of Alyssa Myers. 2. Image courtesy of Pexels Stock Images 97

Denise Lai, Freya Purcell and Emma O’Regan-Reidy New Horizons: Protest, Community, and Animal Crossing During this period of suspended animation for makers and consumers of fashion, the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons has become an alternative platform for pixelated mockups of the fashion archive. Alongside other customisable features, the ability for players to de- sign and customise their own clothing has been one of Animal Crossing’s most productive USP’s. Animal Crossing has become an outlet for both industry experts and casual fashion fans who are sharing designs inspired by luxury fashion brands on popular sites such as Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram. In-game features such as the Nook Phone ‘Custom Designs’ app and a web-based pattern editor allow the casual player to create their own designs on a simple square grid format. Once completed, the designs can be saved as codes to be uploaded onto a kiosk at the in-game tailor shop, where players can share and download each others’ designs. This no-frills customisation interface has cultivated a lively participatory culture, one which parallels the modding cultures that have recently at- tracted academic attention from media theorists writing about popular games such as The Sims. This phenomenon could be a particularly intriguing point of enquiry for discussions surrounding video game participatory culture and the reliance of fashion brands on their digital millennial consumers to drive marketing and sales during the current pandemic. This article, however, focuses on one of the most prominent products of Animal Crossing’s participatory culture, that being the production of free bootleg designs inspired by the fashion archives of brands ranging from Yohji Yamamoto to Jean Paul Gaultier. The most prominent source of these designs are col- lectives of fashion experts and enthusiasts, such as Nook Street Market (inspired by the eponymous Dover Street Market) and Animal Crossing Fashion Archive who fish from fashion archives and render designs onto preset cuts provided in the interface. To date, the latter account has al- ready collaborated with luxury brands such as Valentino and Marc Jacobs who have seized this phenomenon as a marketing opportunity to promote old and new designs. 98

Feature Fashion archives and the virtual experience have a recent history of collaboration. Reflecting on this relationship at the RCA’s ‘State of the Archive’ symposium this February, Dolce Cioffo, head archivist of the Vivienne Westwood collection, reflected on what she called the ‘heritage trend’ in fashion. Referencing brands such as Vivienne Westwood and Dior, she presented examples of the ways in which social media platforms like Instagram have cultivated a public interest in the fashion archive. Ci- offo observes that this digital-led interest in archival fashion has pushed fashion houses to collect and preserve at an unprecedented scale. Col- lections formerly left absent from the archive, such as resort collections, are now perceived to be valuable archival material for brands looking to deploy archival prints or cuts in new collections. The dressing of Animal Crossing avatars in archival fashion is another iteration of this mutually-re- inforcing push to extend the life-cycle of archival pieces, in this instance through the digital afterlife of fashion in social media and video games. This focus on in-game fashion customisation is not by accident, in- deed it was a conscious design choice by the New Horizons producer Hisashi Nogami. Nogami, who has a history of incorporating street wear into his games, discussed the choice with The Verge. While talking about the new co-op functions Nogami stated “It’s completely natural for people to want to dress up, or want to buy new clothing items for that opportu- nity... It’s something that’s true of real life as well.” This prediction has proved accurate as players of the game have flocked to various online communities to celebrate their favourite fashions. For example, the Reddit thread ACNHstreetwear allows players to live out their streetwear desires. Instagram has also proven to be a vital platform for the Animal Crossing fashion community with many accounts dedicated to displaying the best custom design for followers to access themselves. These accounts have follower counts ranging from 9,000 to 100,000, each with active commu- nities and give-away events that see no sign of stopping 3 months into the project launch. 99

Denise Lai, Freya Purcell and Emma O’Regan-Reidy There are many reasons why the game has proven so popular in a post-covid world. That the game play focuses on acts of kindness in a time where our own seems so grim clearly helped but the focus on self expression and fashion is another key reason for its success. Fashion has often been about self expression, a way of displaying your identity and individuality. At a time when large portions of the world are in different degrees of lock down it seems that tracksuits and pajamas have become wardrobe staples. Without friends and colleagues to meet the need to get dressed up can seem less pressing. Animal Crossing allows its players to recapture that sense of self expression through its virtual fashions. Users dictate how they present themselves, from the careful curation of outfits to dedicated custom designs. It allows players to express their passions and interests without limit. In real life, expense can dictate how we dress as that Gucci shirt or lolita dress might be too expensive in reality; in the world of animal crossing it is only a code away. But this expression has had a more serious side than simply recre- ating the thrills of life before coronavirus. While many have been using custom design to express their love of anime or sports, others have turned to real world concerns. In the early days of the pandemic there were reports of people making face masks compulsory on their island. As one user put it: “The mask is more of a symbol...[It] helps me think clean in these troubled times.” As protests spread following the absorption of Hong Kong and the murder of George Floyd, player clothing has expanded from COVID-19 masks to protest wear. Many have taken to the plushy, CGI landscape of Animal Crossings to continue or expand protests occurring offline, with players banding together to create signs and posters to promote their causes. Soon after the game’s release in March 2020, pro-democ- racy protestors from Hong Kong took to the virtual platform in order to continue their movement which was halted by quarantine measures. However, these virtual protests can have real world consequences. In this case, China suspended sales of the game. Though the protests were quickly suppressed it begs the question how these virtual spaces might be used in the future within the world of ACNH, as well as other video game platforms. In this context, the responses to BLM movements on ACNH message boards and user created content within and outside the game offer some hope. Writing on June 4, 2020, in the past week as protests against police brutality swell in the US in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor amongst others, many have swapped their digital designer garments for BLM apparel. The three creators behind the popular Insta- gram account and marketplace, @NookStreetMarket, wrote alongside a post on May 30, that: 100