Rapid Response Collecting

An IKEA soft toy, a pair of Primark jeans, a 3D-printed gun and a piece of lift cable are just a few of the objects that are on display in a new gallery at the V&A this summer.

A series of objects has been recently acquired as part of the Museum’s new approach to collecting contemporary design and architecture, known as “Rapid Response Collecting”.

This new strategy will help the V&A engage in a timely way with important events that shape, or are shaped by design, architecture and technology.

Rapid Response Coillecting — Spike, 2014. Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Regularly updated with new objects, it is the first gallery in the Museum that can be responsive to global events, technological advances, political changes or pop cultural phenomena that have an impact on art, design and architecture. The long-term result will be a permanent legacy of objects in the collection that will help future visitors and researchers to access material culture in the 21st century.

Rapid Response Collection — Fifi pump in five nude shades, designed by Christian Louboutin Ltd, 2013. Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Objects in the opening display include a sample of KONE UltraRope, a new lightweight lift cable. This new material will enable lifts to travel 1000 metres in a single run, potentially transforming city skylines as buildings get slimmer and higher. The world’s first 3D printed gun, ‘the Liberator’, designed by Texan Law student Cody Wilson is also be on show. The gun upended discussions about the benefits of new manufacturing technologies and the unregulated sharing of designs online, and continues to make the news.

A pair of jeans from Primark, acquired soon after the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapsed, killing 1129 workers is displayed. The factory made clothes for a number of major western brands, including Primark and the jeans are an example of the fast fashion that characterises the Bangladeshi textiles industry, but also material evidence of the Rana Plaza disaster.

Corinna Gardner, V&A Curator of Contemporary Product Design and Curator of “Rapid Response Collecting”, said: “Much of the commentary in the media around the Rana Plaza disaster was about international labour laws, building control in Bangladesh and the responsibilities of global corporations and of consumers. But at its heart was a material thing: a pair of jeans that you can buy on any British high street. By bringing these designed objects into the Museum we can explore contemporary issues and events that can seem remote or abstract.”

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Motorola ‘WT41N0’ wearable terminal, designed and manufactured by Motorola Solutions, Inc., 2012. Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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Left: Primark cargo trousers, manufactured by New Wave Bottoms for Primark Date: 2013. Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Right: Sections of KONE UltraRope, designed and manufactured by KONE Corporation Date: 2013. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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Left: False eyelashes endorsed by Katy Perry, ‘Cool Kitty’ style Artist: Manufactured for Eylure, 2013. Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Right: Vype ‘reload’ e-cigarettes, designed and manufactured on behalf of CN Creative Date: 2013. Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Rapid Response Collecting
curated by Corinna Gardner
V&A’s Gallery 74
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road, London

Rapid Response Collecting

An IKEA soft toy, a pair of Primark jeans, a 3D-printed gun and a piece of lift cable are just a few of the objects that are on display in a new gallery at the V&A this summer.

2014HC0345

2014HB1731

2014HC3211

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