Design Objects and the Museum

Description

Design Objects and the Museum brings together leading design historians, curators, educators and archivists to consider the place of contemporary design objects within museums. Contributors draw on a wide range of 20th century and contemporary examples from international museums to consider how design objects have been curated and displayed within and beyond the museum. The book continues contemporary global debates on the ways in which museums of design engage and educate their public. Chapters are grouped into three thematic sections addressing The Canon and Design in the Museum; Positioning Design within and Beyond the Museum; and Interpretation and the Challenge of Design, with chapters exploring museological practice and issues, the roles people play in creating meaning, and the challenges contemporary design presents to interpretation and learning within the museum.

Liz Farrelly writes and edits books and articles on design and visual culture, with stints on staff at Blueprint and Eye magazines. She teaches at University of Brighton, UK and her current research about museums and design focuses on London's Design Museum. Joanna Weddell has a background in architecture and is currently researching post-war design and museology at the Research Department of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the University of Brighton, UK; she also teaches History of Art.

This book gives a unique insight into the historical perspective of combining design with exhibitions in and outside museums. The case studies give excellent new information on background of politics in design exhibition for example in London Design Museum, but also in Scandinavia and USA. The articles are heavily grounded in relevant literary references of most current academic texts. The book challenges conservative exhibition design thinking and reveals how the many choices of museum exhibition design reflect on our society's political, aesthetic and economic values. The emphasis in the book is laid on theorethical questions on the problematics of exhibiting design in museums, not only about exhibition design of any kind. -- Outi Turpeinen, artist and designer, Aalto University, Helsinki Design Objects and the Museum draws on a wide range of contributors who problematize design and its relation to the cannon, the museum, and the challenges of interpretation. The arguments present new models and debates that broaden disciplinary boundaries and expand our ways of thinking about designed objects, both historical and contemporary, and their displayed status. -- Sarah Lichtman, Parsons, The New School for Design, USA Farrelly and Weddell (both, Univ. of Brighton, UK) reveal the impact that design objects had on cultural institutions...This is a valuable resource for those interested in art history, design, and museum studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * CHOICE * With an array of critical, theoretical and practical approaches to the presentation and curation of design objects, this book is a useful resource for those interested in the evolving nature of curatorial practice and museology. * Eye Magazine *