Disobedient Objects

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Dónde están nuestros hijos (“Where are our children?”). Chilean Arpilleras wall hanging, Roberta Bacic collection. Photo: Martin Melaugh Traditionally between these dates the Spirit worlds open up as the veils between worlds become thin and we can communicate with those who have crossed over.

Quotations inserted between the steps represent the voices of activists and political thinkers, from 19th-century anarchist Emma Goldman to an anonymous slogan on a 1970s badge. On either side of the entrance, two ‘ceramic posters’ collage images of protest in Britain, past and present. They intentionally cover over an inscription commemorating the inauguration of the building by the ‘Empress and Emperor of India’ (Victoria and Albert). The contemporary scenes are autobiographical, and represent actions that Reichardt, her friends and family were involved in. Isabel Hardingham is a part-time Gallery Assistant at the V&A, a role that she combines with being Senior Bookshop Associate at the Architectural Association Bookshop. Working inside the Disobedient Objects exhibition, she reflects on the impact that the Guerrilla Girls made on her as an art history student and on the ongoing relevance of their work Poster, Guerrilla Girls, 1989 They range from folk art, for example, signs made by people for protest marches to the very high-tech, such as mobile phone-powered drones for filming demonstrations or the police, which you can make yourself very cheaply. Ceramic intervention on the V&A façade By Carrie Reichardt and the Treatment Rooms Collective, 2014The intervention on the steps and façade of the Museum was made in response to the exhibition Disobedient Objects. It reflects the idea of a people’s history of art and design from below, and it invites us to consider activist social movements as a significant part of our culture. These textiles often left the country, and were seen as innocent by the authorities because of their resemblance to folk art, but carried letters and communicated with the outside world. This technique spread, and we have examples from Colombia in 2010. It was also used in Ireland by women protesting against the use of Shannon Airport in extraordinary rendition.

In other news, two striking commissions: the designers Barber Osgerby are to design the inside and outside of the new Crossrail trains, which, after decades of British trains having been less beautifully designed than the average vacuum cleaner, is a step forward. And Goldsmiths, University of London, incubator of much of BritArt, has chosen the young architectural collective Assemble to design a public gallery on their New Cross campus to show the work of international artists, students and staff. Disobedient Objects is an exhibition about out-designing authority. Looking beyond art and design framed by markets, connoisseurs and professionals, this exhibition considers the role of social movement cultures in re-making our world from below. Disobedient objects can be ingenious and sometimes beautiful solutions to complex problems, often produced with limited resources and under duress. Working by any media necessary, they may be poor in means, but they are often rich in ends. This started off in Italy and was taken up in Britain and America by students who had seen them on social media. Daily updates on the latest design and architecture vacancies advertised on Dezeen Jobs. Plus occasional news. Dezeen Jobs Weekly

The Guerrilla Girls became an all-female force in the art world in the mid-1980’s. They have devoted nearly thirty years to feminist and anti-racist concerns. The V&A is fortunate to have one of their early works on display as part of the exhibition Disobedient Objects: ‘Do Women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum? Less than 5% of the artists in the Modern Art sections are women, but 85% of the nudes are female.’ The Guerrilla Girls display within the V&A exhibition Disobedient Objects, 2014 Knowing when and what the difference is, is key to the success or failure of many movements. And so often, it hinges on the freedoms afforded a population at that moment in time. In Gaza, for instance, without the freedom of movement and political rights normally afforded a nation, how can a people launch a peaceful protest -- who will be listening to their needs? The raw anger, energy and wit of protest comes to genteel South Kensington. Alice Bell finds it most refreshing

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After this photograph was taken, each mount was then taken off to be lacquered and left to dry for 24 hours. I then threaded shrinkable tubing onto the wire and moulded these evenly into place using a heat gun, which was done to avoid any metal snagging against the fabric of the doll. Testing out the mount in the museum workshop. Bike blocs’ are another contemporary feature of protests, with discarded bikes welded together into ‘machines of creative resistance’. A pair of bikes placed in parallel with a platform between them can house a PA and sound-system, which can be an important element in a protest for amplifying voices and offering music to accompany or co-ordinate protestors’ chants. Multiple modes of resistance also reflect a multitude of intersecting struggles, a theme which the exhibition highlights with a quote from Audre Lorde, the great American poet, feminist and activist: “There is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not lead single issue lives; our struggles are particular, but we are not alone.” As with all successful projects, time for comprehensive, collaborative planning is fundamental. Complex objects, second guessing the unknown and tight deadlines can add considerably to workloads. The lenders (some of whom needed to remain anonymous) and the object types were a little more unconventional than usual. For instance, we knew many of the objects had been produced in reaction to a particular event, made with materials at hand and, due to their use, were potentially quite fragile. Some of the challenges raised during early-stage group discussions included: