Disobedient Objects

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Others are propaganda, such as a trade union banner or the 1986 leaflet (produced by London Greenpeace and, it later turned out, an undercover police officer) that sparked the interminable McLibel trial. Images: Victoria and Albert Musem, London, Jonathan Slaff, Oriana Eliçabe/Enmedio.info, Immo Klink, Martin Melaugh, Ed Hall, Andy Dao and Ivan Cash, Institute for Applied Autonomy, Blanca Garcia, George Lange

Of course, these ideas would need to be feasibly fabricated in the mount workshop within a relatively short period of time and be suitable for use when the show goes on to tour internationally. For example, if a future venue chooses not to use a similar set build as we did at the V&A, the mount I had made must not be entirely dependent upon this, and should be re-usable.The total visitor figures for ‘Disobedient Objects’ during its six-month display at the V&A was 416,867. There was no damage to any objects or need to introduce any contingency measures. The comprehensive planning and discussion which began at the V&A continued with tour venues to ensure all subsequent installs, de-installs and displays ran smoothly. Disobedient Objects at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London gathers together such items from around the world. Graffiti-spraying drones adapted from remote controlled cars, teargas masks made from water bottles, riot shields fashioned from layered cardboard. It’s a rich collection of remarkable objects that paint a picture of human ingenuity in unlikely scenarios.

The show is about existing design so it made sense to use a documentary approach to find examples of things that have actually been made," Grindon explained. "None of this stuff is professionally designed, it's just happening in the public sphere in various ways." L J Roberts, Gaybashers, Come and Get It, USA. Image courtesy of Blanca Garcia When students in London saw videos of this online, they produced their own book shields and this spread to the US and all over Europe. None of these groups every met, but they felt like they were communicating with each other. These dolls represent Trini, leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Chiapas, Mexico. Disobedient objects are often those which are simply to hand and waiting to be re-purposed. These masks made from water bottles were used during last year’s Gezi Park protests in Istanbul as a response to the unprecedented amounts of teargas used against protestors in Taksim Square, and became symbolic – they were featured in street art and graffiti and there are photographs of whirling dervishes wearing them. News about our Dezeen Awards programme, including entry deadlines and announcements. Plus occasional updates. Dezeen Events GuideSocial movements, in contesting established ways of seeing and acting, find themselves beset by a long and recent history of misrepresentation, in which they are ignored or maligned by mass media while simultaneously being appropriated for their vitality and authenticity. Museums are not immune to this process. In our approach we were inspired by the traditions of history from below, but also by methods of participatory action research, as ways to engage with ongoing movements. These admittedly awkward terms stand for rejecting institutional privilege and assumed expertise. We aimed to be guided by their principals of aiming to shape research as a socially-just activity that researches with, rather than on, communities; recognising participants as experts and opening the curation process to be fundamentally shaped by them. This involved a series of workshops, with lenders and other movement participants who had a connection to these objects, which shaped the exhibition’s ideas and physical design. This cannot work in all situations obviously, says van Balen. In Palestine, for instance, where the threats are real -- using humour is not exactly a straightforward thing, when battling a cause that can so often turn deadly. He points, however, to a movement in 2010 when Palestinians dressed like Na'vis around the release of James Cameron's film Avatar. Painted in blue, they compared themselves to the repressed Na'vi people. "That creative interpretation was very powerful because of the storytelling involved," said van Balen.

This banner opposes the idea of a mere financial crisis, identifying capitalism as the source of climate chaos and ongoing inequality and injusticeA talking head on a large TV screen at the end of the gallery remarks that “When we look at history, it’s all too often written from the perspective of the victors.” And this is key to why this exhibition is so surprising, especially at the V&A. Like most of the institutions of South Kensington, the V&A is a product ofthe Great Exhibition, a rather unquestioning celebration of the world the Victorians builtus, with little sense that life could be different, and little reflection of the various groups and alternative ideas for society that were steamrollered over – sometimes literally –to get there. Handmade gas masks were an essential response to police actions during the 2013 mass protests in Istanbul. These events saw the Turkish government release a record amount of tear gas to disperse demonstrators. Protesters devised a way to protect themselves with basic materials like plastic bottles, elastic, and strips of insulation foam. I had no idea how the exhibition design would look at future venues for Disobedient Objects, so the mounts would need to be easily adaptable. A textile depicting a weeping mother, chained hands, falling doves and the penetrating eye of the secret police – one of many made by women during Pinochet’s rule in Chile The exhibits on display are perhaps more objects for disobedience, rather than disobedient objects. But that’s no bad thing, especially as it accomplishes a richer, more challenging display than last year’s disappointing Art Turning Left: 1789-2013 at Tate Liverpool.

The objects that will be exhibited were created by non-professional designers, mostly using craft methods or adhoc manufacturing processes. Book Blocs’, shields painted to resemble book covers; a form of protest in themselves as well as a means of defence Weekly updates on the latest design and architecture vacancies advertised on Dezeen Jobs. Plus occasional news. Dezeen Awards The exhibition's approach to identifying and procuring objects is in line with the "rapid response" curatorial process introduced by the V&A recently, which has seen it acquire objects including Katy Perry eyelashesand the world's first 3D-printed gun. Bike Bloc Graphic Poster, Anonymous. Image courtesy of the V&A Museum Made from scraps of material, these were sold, so provided economic support, and in the act of gathering to make them, the women found solidarity and collective strength.There are found objects, such as the saucepans and lids used in Argentinian protests. The catalogue, quoting Bachelard again, says the exhibition is of "many small Promethean disobediences, at once clever, well thought out, and patiently pursued, so subtle at times as to avoid punishment entirely". Disobedient Objects goes beyond the political posters that usually represent social movement in museums, presenting high-tech objects such as drones for filming demonstrations as well as handcrafted items such as placards and textiles that reveal the stories behind protests. Icon spoke to the exhibition’s co-curator, Gavin Grindon. Often, the most simple of ideas prove to be the most effective, so I’ll talk through the process of making a mount for one of the Bust cards featured in the exhibition.