Design theory has changed over the decades, acquiring a boundless purview that museums struggle to contain. The V&A London’s new show proves that it can be done - but not easily.
The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Cars: Accelerating the Modern World opened in November 2019, having been in gestation for almost half a decade. During this time, there’s been an undercurrent of scepticism about the enterprise. Wouldn’t it be better suited to the Science Museum? Why do we need a show devoted to boys’ toys at all? Since critics and public have gained access, such objections have – by and large – been swept aside, with the exhibition, co-curated by Brendan Cromier and Lizzie Bisley, receiving almost universal praise.
And no wonder. Cars: Accelerating the Modern World offers a series of compelling perspectives on the extraordinary and wide-ranging impact that the automobile has had on our lives, and our planet, over the last century or more. Its focus ranges across the unsettling incursion of assembly lines, and of automation, into our working lives; the explosion of demand for oil, with resulting geopolitical and environmental shockwaves; the increased exploitation of obsolescence as a marketing tool; motorway-building as a tool to constructing national – and pan-national – identities; and the circularity and elusiveness of our visions of transport futures.
These concerns, and more, are conveyed through an often unexpected array of exhibits: a meat slicer with streamlined stylings; an “Energy Crisis” board game; Martha Reeves and the Vandellas weaving through Ford’s assembly line to Nowhere to Run; the world’s first industrial robot, the Unimate of 1961; and a strong line in futuristic car-inspired fashion. And, of course, there’s also a judicious offering of 15 cars – Cromier describes them as ‘Trojan Horses’, each one of which allows a bigger story to be told – including such icons as the world’s first production automobile, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen No. 3 of 1888; the first streamlined car, the Tatra T77 of 1934; and Harley Earl’s Firebird I concept car for General Motors, inspired by 1950s fighter planes. To round out the picture, a few more familiar models are thrown in – a 1960s muscle car; an early Beetle; a Model T Ford. Also deserving of mention is a series of eloquent films generated by the V&A in conjunction with Zuketa – one devoted to car subcultures and their role in building communities, from lowriders in California to dekotora in Saitama, stands out.
It’s an impressive display, entertaining, packed, cogent, convincing. More, it is carefully (and successfully) constructed to confront a key challenge when mounting an exhibition about cars: appealing to those who view the entire topic in a negative light, while keeping ardent enthusiasts expecting a celebratory display onside.
For Cromier, who admits to nerves in preparing the show, the favourable reaction from the latter has given particular pleasure. “One lesson is not to underestimate the intelligence of people who are fanatics about a certain topic, and their ability to think about it in a holistic way…they can take the good and the bad in equal stride. We were able to create a space that celebrated the design ingenuity that goes into the development of the automobile, but also explores the problematic outcomes of its popularity. It’s really positive that everyone realises the huge challenges ahead…because that suggests there’s a receptivity to the new kinds of thinking about the future that are so necessary.”
Getting to this gratifying point has been far from easy. The show was the brainchild of the late Martin Roth who, during his tenure as director at the V&A, pointed out that the self-proclaimed “leading museum of art and design” had never mounted exhibition on possibly the most important product of the twentieth century. The project’s development was originally placed in the hands of architect Norman Foster, an automobile enthusiast whose priorities mirrored his various passions. Over time, it became clear that a wider lens was needed for this undeniably difficult show – as Cromier has put it, “it would be most useful to focus our exhibition on the impact of the car as a designed object, rather than doing a show purely on the design of the car; the car as a case study for how designed objects can have impact on the world around us.”
It’s an interesting statement, indicating how the role of the design museum has evolved as major institutions look beyond traditional exhibition formats based on individuals, movements and periods....
Originally published December 2019 – to read the rest of the article on STIRworld, click here.