CURATING DESIGN: CONTEXT, CULTURE AND REFLECTIVE PRACTICE, 1980 - 2018 [Part One of Two] DONNA LOVEDAY A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Kingston University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2018 CONTENTS The Thesis [Part One of Two] Acknowledgments 6 Abstract 7 List of Illustrations 9 INTRODUCTION 17 The Practice 27 A Practice under Scrutiny 30 Methodology: “The Reflective Practitioner”35 The Discourse on Curating: “A Blind Spot” 38 Summary of Thesis Structure 51 CHAPTER 1: Displaying Designed Objects in Museum and Exhibition Contexts, 1800s - 2000 55 1.1 Cabinets of Curiosities and the Formation of the Public Museum 55 1.2 International Exhibitions 64 1.3 The Decorative Arts Museum and the Modern Art Museum 74 1.4 A Rising Public Interest in Design 79 1.5 The Growing Popularity of Design Exhibitions 88 1.6 New Programmes to Train Curators 97 Conclusion 101 CHAPTER 2: The Curatorial Turn, 1980 - 2018 103 2.1 A Changing Political Landscape for Museums 105 2.2 The Educational Turn: The Museum as an Ideal Learning Environment 117 2.3 Producing New Curatorial Formats: The Public Programme 133 Curator 2.4 The Experiential Turn in Museums 139 !2 2.5 Narrative Environments 148 2.6 Designing Exhibitions as Narrative Space 152 2.7 Curating Narrative and Experiential Exhibitions 157 Conclusion 167 CHAPTER 3: The Development of the Design Museum, London, 1980 - 2018 170 3.1 The Origins of the Design Museum: Terence Conran and the Boilerhouse Project 170 3.2 The Design Museum at Shad Thames: Commerce and Culture 184 3.3 The Early Exhibitions 190 3.4 New Policies and Programmes 197 3.5 Making the Design Process Explicit: Designs of the Year and Designers in Residence 207 3.6 The Changing Role of Education 214 3.7 Experience-Based Exhibitions: Verner Panton, Hussein Chalayan and Christian Louboutin 218 3.8 The Development of the New Design Museum on Kensington High Street 224 3.9 A New Exhibitions Focus at the Design Museum: Fear and Love: Reactions to a complex world and California: Designing Freedom 229 Conclusion 232 CHAPTER 4: The Reflective Practitioner: Hello, My Name is Paul Smith Design Museum, London, 15 November 2013 - 22 June 2014 235 4.1 Demystification in Professional Practice 235 4.2 The Case Study: Hello, My Name is Paul Smith 237 4.3 A Working Formula: The 6 Stages of Curating 243 4.4 Stage 1: Curatorial Research 243 - Exhibition timeline and budget - Curatorial research and methodology - Oral history: The in-depth interview - The archive - Trigger objects !3 4.5 Stage 2: Concept Development and Narrative Structure 262 - Storytelling as an approach to exhibition-making - Beginning and endings - The visitor journey 4.6 Stage 3: Design Brief and Detailed Design Development 269 - The project team - First iteration of exhibition design - Progression of exhibition design: The scale model - The experiential in exhibitions - Exhibiting a creative practitioner’s studio in an exhibition - Commissioning film to articulate design process - Final iteration of exhibition design 4.7 Stage 4: Content and Interpretation 290 - Developing content - The role of graphic design - Selecting display furniture and props 4.8 Stage 5: Production and Installation 304 - Final drawings - The installation 4.9 Stage 6: Evaluation and Critical Reflection 304 CONCLUSION 311 Reflections on Research and Implications for Professional Practice 311 Future Directions for Research 321 BIBLIOGRAPHY 324 APPENDICES 334 i) Practitioner: Profile ii) Practitioner: List of Exhibitions !4 PORTFOLIO OF WORK [Part Two of Two] 340 The Portfolio of Work forms a written, visual and oral record of the research-informed practice undertaken for the case study exhibition discussed in Chapter 4. The research material is presented as a series of PDF documents on a CD included alongside the thesis. Insert the CD and click on each icon which will open the following documents P1 - P10. Stage 1: Curatorial Research (Chapter 4 - 4.4) P1 Exhibition Schedule P2 Research Notes P3 Archive Notes Stage 2: Concept Development and Narrative Structure (Chapter 4 - 4.5) P4 Exhibition Concept Document: The Visitor Journey P5 Suggestions for Exhibition Title Stage 3: Design Brief and Detailed Design Development (Chapter 4 - 4.6 P6 Exhibition Design (Final version) P7 Press Release - Press Briefing Invitation Stage 4: Content and Interpretation (Chapter 4 - 4.7) P8 Exhibition Panel Text P9 Exhibition Film: A Day in the Life of a Fashion Show Stage 5: Production and Installation (Chapter 4 - 4.8) P10 Images of the exhibition in its final form !5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis marks the culmination of a train of thought that began some twenty-five years ago. Over that time, my research has been shaped with the support of many people. I would like to express sincere gratitude to my academic supervisors; my Director of Studies, Professor Penny Sparke, for her careful guidance and for sharing many first-hand insights into the development of design as theory and practice. Thanks also to Dr Catharine Rossi for her careful reading of chapter drafts and constructive feedback. I would also like to thank Kingston University for the financial support that enabled me to pursue this research. I am grateful to my former colleagues at the Barbican and the Design Museum, London for giving me the opportunity to work on so many inspiring exhibitions and where I was able to hone my practice. Special thanks to staff at the Design Museum for sharing their curatorial insights with me and for providing access to the museum’s archives during a busy transition period, in particular Tom Wilson, Head of Collections and Research. Special thanks to Professor Catherine McDermott for her encouragement to pursue this PhD and for many informative and enjoyable years teaching on the MA Curating Contemporary Design programme at the Design Museum. And finally, a big thank you to my parents who have supported my studies throughout my career and, most importantly, to my husband Simon for his constant encouragement and support of my PhD journey. !6 ABSTRACT Curating Design: Context, Culture and Reflective Practice, 1980 - 2018 Curating design has become a fast-emerging and dynamic field of curatorial practice. This practice-informed PhD, which includes a thesis and a portfolio of work, seeks to understand and represent the practice of curating design. The thesis responds to developments in the field over the last four decades - the development of design-focused museums globally, an expanding design industry, the growing popularity of design exhibitions and new programmes to train curators, including design curators. These developments have been interpreted as part of a broader cultural shift or “curatorial turn.” However, their impact on the practice of curating design remains largely unexplored, despite being a growth area over the last twenty years. There is no comprehensive account of the history and development of the practice of curating design. The study derives from a substantial body of work extending over twenty- five years. Adopting the researcher’s methodology of “reflective practitioner”, the research provides a perspective on the more recent developments in design curating as practice and discourse within the context and culture of the Design Museum, London. It turns a critical eye on the processes, theories and methods of curating design through a focus on a single exhibition, Hello, My Name is Paul Smith, curated for the Design Museum in 2013. This PhD submission comprises two parts; The Thesis (Part One) and a Portfolio of Work (Part Two). Part One comprises four chapters and serves to firmly locate the subject in its historical and cultural context, aiming to contribute to knowledge and understanding of the practice. The research presented in Chapters 1, 2 and 3 introduces and surveys rapid !7 developments in the field of curatorial practice. Chapters 3 and 4 locate, introduce and discuss my individual research practice as a design curator. Part Two comprises a Portfolio of Work that forms a written, visual and oral record of the research-informed practice undertaken for the case study exhibition. The research material is presented on a CD included alongside the thesis. The intended outcome of this practice-informed research is to provide an enhanced understanding of curating design and its place in the museum. In so doing, it aims to contribute meaningfully to a growing historiography of design curation and to an understanding of the expanding role of the design curator. !8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS INTRODUCTION Fig. 1: Entrance to Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, V&A, London: 14 March - 2 August 2015 Source: V&A, London web page Fig. 2: Collection display at The International Design Museum of China, Hangzhou, 2018 Source: CAA, Beijing web page Fig. 3: Interior view of the Design Museum, Kensington, London, 2016 Source: the Design Museum, London Fig. 4: (1) from L to R: The Curator Bar and Dining, Heathrow Airport Terminal 3; Domestic Art, Curated Interiors: Holly Moore, Assouline Press, 2008; A Magazine curated by… (2) from L to R: Curated Man menswear boutique, Richmond, south west London; The Curated Closet: Anuschka Rees,Virgin Books, 2017; How to Curate your Life: Work Life Balance for the Creative Entrepreneur: Lizzie Evans, Podcasts, 2017. Source: Author Fig. 5: From L to R: Curated List of Digital Marketing Blogs in 2017, Colorwhistle; Content Curation, Blog post, 2017. Source: Author CHAPTER 1 Fig. 6: Interior view of the studiolo of Francesco I de’ Medici in Florence in Florence, Italy, created between 1569 and 1570 Source: Oliver Impey and Arthur MacGregor, Arthur. The Origins of the Museum: The Cabinet of Curiosities in sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe, Oxford University Press, 1985 Fig. 7: The interior of Olaus Worm’s museum in Copenhagen, From Museum Wormianum, 1654 Source: Oliver Impey and Arthur MacGregor, Arthur.