Works in Victoria and Albert Museum.
“Being a human in a digital world, it’s a lot, all of the time”
It’s hard for us to know how to place our serves because so many things are like a black box
No person is an island, we exist as an I and as a We together.
Tech comes from Latin word for Knowledge
Tertiary retentions: memories recorded through technology
Did a BA then tried to do a masters couldn’t afford so worked in a call centre
At that time discovered digital art and coding for the web
Began volunteering at Lighthouse.
Thought technology was amazing because of Tomorrow’s World
Lighthouse demolished dreams “in a nice safe environment”
Had an art installation where people could “hack” the newspaper websites. Obviously fake in a museum but made people think about how a man in the middle attack in a cafe could influence people without knowing so
Code was open-sourced
Worked on another project called Think Clash
At Future Everything worked out how to use digital art as a communications method for having critical conversations
Just because we haven’t talked about politics in design before doesn’t mean it wasn’t always there
V&A had a department set aside from discipline/chronology/medium and what the impact of design on the public is
Rapid response collecting is a groundbreaking initiative to collect object at the time they hit the news, as a particular indicator of a moment. Such as a flag from the first Extinction Rebellion
Collected the first 3D gun that was banned by US
Collect things when design becomes inherently and explicitly politicised
First time digital design has ever been included in the V&A strategy.
Digital design defined as: product design, software and physical computing; systems and industrial design; web design and social media; interaction, interface and information design; video games and communications design; new media and computer programming
“Phenomenological level”
The digital works on infrastructure on data servers, it is physical it has a real cost.
Collection strategy acknowledges climate change and impact
Want to invite practitioners as much as historical
The Apple 2 was collected not chronologically but for a specific purpose as the first time the computer made it into the domestic sphere and first time brought work home
Acquired the monitor that Steve Jobs wheeled around in his car. Has the story behind it
Acquired Nest thermometer because there was a data breach so for the story
Makerbot was acquired which was easier as just hardware, software harder as don’t own IP
Hard to find Makerbots these days
Acquired Xbox adaptive controller as it specifically allowed people that couldn’t play games before to play them. Forced a change of innovation cycle due to user testing in rehab hospitals with well designed accessible packaging
They try to bring to life things that are invisible
Pictures of Chelsea Manning by using DNA photometry where DNA is swapped. Worked to create a gender-neutral and female portrait. The software alone wouldn’t show anything but by acquiring the pictures it showed how gender is redundant.
The iPhone is a difficult story to tell. Acquired the iPhone 1 in 2014.
iPhone 6 only collected for material properties. If you turn it on it will break the phone. Wanting to work with Apple as currently is like half a painting
The issue is losing the ability for access to IP
Minitel 1B a “brilliant ridiculous object that is responsible for why France basically didn’t like the internet for a long time” was brought in to replace the phone book
Book called welcome to minitel. Story of a guy in garage pretending to be 14 different women.
Anyone could host a service on it
The minute it was shut off in 2012 everything was lost. French telecom hosted everything, nothing locally.
Should we get used to the ephemerality?
Design means something. It’s not just the design and story or what it’s like it use.
Tried to acquire WeChat
Has about a billion users maybe more. Biggest social media in Asia.
You can text a physical character that parents could text for their children. But no way to acquire what it feels like to be a 16-year old using WeChat
Acquired an Amazon Echo, it’s just a dumb object turned off. But also acquired a massive map of everything researchers could find out about how Amazon Echo is built from smelting the metal through to training of AI “Anatomy of an AI”
Not about being biased. Want to show where politics is embedded. Showing the Echo doesn’t show anything that goes into it or the politics it affects.
No such thing as neutrality if you work in design
Support your local museum, they need you more than the V&A does