Our day out at Kew could not have been better. The sun was shining, the ducks were out and about and spring was in the air. There were also plenty of aeroplanes in the sky, making for a challenging soundscape! Rhys ran through how to use some stereo system recording devices including a Marantz PMD 661digital recorder and a Rode NT4 Fixed X/Y Stereo Microphone in a Rycote wind shield. We also learnt to use mono system recording devices such as a Zoom H4 digital recorder and a Sennheiser Shotgun microphone on a boom!
After mastering the art of recording we set off into the sunshine capturing the sounds of waterfalls, geese, flowing water, leaves under foot, the raking and shoveling of earth, the clattering of cups and the sound of distant voices.
Rhys and his team then had the challenge of bringing all these sounds together to produce an MP3 soundtrack that would accompany the poster in the Museum as part of the Poster Parade in April (on display until 15th May).
The particiapnts wish to thank London Transport Museum, Museums, Libraries & Archives, Orleans House Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Audioposts.
Filed under: Collections, Communities, Posters written by Access to Art
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The next element of the Paintings in Hospitals Soundscape Poster Project took us all off to the Museum Depot in Acton Town. Jumpers on, and avoiding the washing of buses prior to the open weekend, we explored the depot and had a chance to see some of the posters from the 40,000 strong collection. Gloves on, we were able to take a closer look. Participants were then able to compare their drawings from the first day of the project with the original posters (below).
Museum Curator Robert Excel was on hand to give one of his enigmatic tours of the depot which served to exceed the participants expectations. Then the difficult decision came – which poster will we choose to create a soundscape for? Due to the tour being so interesting and general enjoyment, time ran out and I set the task for the group to email me with their choice of poster, with 3 reasons for their choice and sounds they would like to record.
Join us again to find out about how we get on at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
Written by Laura Service
Filed under: Collections, Communities, Exhibitions, Posters written by Access to Art
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The Paintings in Hospitals project, another strand of the Access to Art project, is a collaboration between the museum, the charity Paintings in Hospitals, Orleans House Gallery and Richmond Carers. As part of the project the museum recently worked with Richmond Carers and their families to use the poster collections as inspiration to make a soundscape.
This part of the project, which will take place over 3 separate sessions, examined 5 posters that are to be gifted to Paintings in Hospitals. The aim is to create a soundscape in response to one of them which will later be recorded at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
A group from Richmond Carers met at Orleans House Gallery in Richmond for the beginning of the project. The first element of the project was to think about what a soundscape is and how we were going to make one. Participants worked together to examine the posters by doing short creative workshops which included one participant describing a poster while another created a drawing based upon the description (below).
This was then followed up with an introduction to the microphone and what it does. This element of the day was led by sound engineer Rhys Beetham from Audiopost. He and the group explored how to create sounds and what things really sounded like when you listen to them more closely. Many of the sounds which surround us are not engineered to be listened to and therefore we often simply block them out. If we were to gain anything from this project it would be to notice more of the sounds around us and to gain a greater experience of the world by making better use of our senses.
In the workshop the participants listened to the sounds through headphones (above). They noticed that by moving the sounds first closer and then farther away from the microphone it created a sense of space using just sound. We wanted to use this technique when recording sounds for the soundscape to create this illusion of space.
Join us again to find out about how we get on at the Museum Depot in Acton.
By Laura Service
Filed under: Collections, Communities, Posters written by Access to Art
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As part of the Access to Art project, MA Character Animation students at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design have produced a set of amazing animations based on our poster collection. You can watch them now on our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ltmuseumvideo
Storyboard from animation inspired by Betchworth by Noel Rooke, 1921.
On February 27 this year, 33 students received a brief from London Transport Museum: bring a London Transport poster to life in a 30 second animation.
The students visited the museum and study collection at Central Saint Martins to see the original posters and to learn more about their background. All the posters had been produced by former students at Central Saint Martins. Duplicate copies had been transferred from London Transport Museum to Central Saint Martins as part of Access to Art.
Students drew further inspiration from their visit London Transport Museum Depot in Acton Town. Museum volunteers led tours of the poster and artwork stores and showed them more work by former students at Central Saint Martins.
Students then worked in small groups to plan, design, animate and edit their short films, using animation techniques including stop motion, digital cut-out and 3D computer modelling.
For more information about how the students tackled their briefs, visit their course blogs at http://myblog.arts.ac.uk/groups/ma-character-animation-at-central-st-martins
The teams presented their finished animations on March 13th.
Thanks to the students and tutors for all their hard work on this exciting project. Enjoy the animations and please remember to tell us what you think!
Written by Ian Coles
Filed under: Posters written by Access to Art
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On the 1st March we were delighted to welcome students from Central St Martin’s University to our Museum Depot for the day as part of our current Access to Art collaborative course with the University.
Volunteers John Dodd, David Burnell, Tom Cavanagh and Stephen West were on hand to offer a number of in depth tours of our Art and Poster stores. As part of the course our Museum curators have highlighted ten posters in the collection which are to be transformed into short animations; though not all the posters were accessible, volunteers were able to speak about a range of posters/artworks in the collection by the same artists, which really helped the students put their posters into context both with artists other works and the imagery and trends of the period. The outcomes of the project will hopefully be revealed in a few weeks’ time…
In the meantime you can see some of the photographs related to the project on our Flickr Photostream: Access to Art: Central Saint Martins Animation Project – Students work
Filed under: Posters, Volunteers written by Sam Clift
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On the 6th January curators and museum technical assistants spent the early morning installing the new poster parade ‘Painting by numbers’. The display shows posters which creatively adopt facts and figures to celebrate the increase of efficiency, reliability and progress of London transport operators but also offer solutions to problems faced by commuters on their journeys.
Selecting the posters for display was a tough decision, and was heartbreaking to see some excluded from the final 20. Two artworks from 1953 by Tom Eckersley (above), one of the leading poster designers, were found on our catalogue but could not be included in the exhibition as our aim is to show posters rather than rough sketches and drawings.
Interestingly the design stage of the artworks didn’t go further than the drawing board, so their design was never taken forward and seen by the public on the Underground.
Another poster which was unearthed on the catalogue dates back to 1912, and is by an unknown artist. It’s a nifty design which shows a bar chart comparing the speed of different modes of transport. The poster promotes the use of the Tube by claiming it is the quickest and easiest way to get around London. If you look closely you’ll be able to see a snail at the bottom of the chart as one of the comparisons!
For the final 20 selection come and see the display which will be up until the 22nd March 2012.
Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Veronica Dominiak
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No need to ask a p'liceman, by John Hassall, 1908
This week’s poster is a Museum classic. It has been selected by a group of ESOL learners as part of London Transport Museum’s Access to Art project in partnership with Ealing Libraries. For the past three weeks 16 individuals from countries including Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Sri Lanka and Yemen have been meeting with ESOL tutor Susan Smith at Acton library and learning how to navigate their way around the London using different types of transport. Under investigation have been tube maps, bus maps and tickets as well as giving and receiving directions for travel.
Now in the fourth week of the project, today has been particularly special as the group got the chance to visit the Museum Depot and were led on a tour by the fact-fuelled volunteer John Campbell. The group responded wonderfully to the historical objects and to John peppering him with lots of inquisitive and funny questions. After a break for tea and biscuits the group headed into the art store to view a number of artworks including Fougasse’s humorous wartime tube etiquette posters. The artwork that drew much comment is the 1908 poster No need to ask a P’liceman. The group noted the difference between the artwork and the London Underground poster such as the appearance of a ticket office that was absent in the original artwork and how different the geographical tube map looked in comparison to the schematic tube map we use today.
There was a bit of confusion amongst the group as to why you would ask a policeman for directions on the tube. “Won’t you upset him?” one person asked. We’re going to discuss this in more detail in our penultimate session next week but we’re also curious to hear your thoughts about the poster. So, what do you think?
To see photos of the learners in action at the Depot on 30 November 2011, click on the link for the Flickr blog and select Access to Art ESOL project: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ltmposters.
Filed under: Posters written by Access to Art
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Secure Beneath the Watchful Eyes, by Mark Thomas, 2003
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This week we’re showing the film Erasing David at the museum as part of our events for the Sense and the City exhibition. The documentary explores the use of surveillance technology in modern Britain, so volunteer Jon Burdett has picked out ‘Secure Beneath the Watchful Eyes’ by Mark Thomas. He explains: ‘The movie is about documentary maker David Bond’s attempts to disappear from Britain’s ubiquitous CCTV cameras, challenging two private detectives to track him down whilst he goes on the run. Can he manage it? This poster from 2002 was made to reassure the public that the use of surveillance helps to keep the transport system a safer place. The text says: ‘CCTV & METROPOLITAN POLICE ON BUSES ARE JUST TWO WAYS WE’RE MAKING YOUR JOURNEY MORE SECURE’. There was also a leaflet done explaining the measures being taken to improve security. To me, those eyes in the sky are a bit Big Brother and bring George Orwell’s famous novel 1984 to mind!
What do you think?
Erasing David will be shown on Friday 9th December 2011 18.30 – 20.00.
Filed under: Posters written by Catherine Mailhac
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Alphabet, by unknown artist, 1940
This week’s poster is from 1940 and shows the instantly recognisable Johnston typeface. This was designed by Edward Johnston and has been used all over the Underground since 1917. You’ll have seen it on lots of posters and signage. On posters it was usually added to the design at the printing stage. The typeface was redesigned in 1979 by Eiichi Kono at Banks & Miles, tweaking it to bring it up to date as New Johnston, which is still used by London Underground today. This clear, iconic font has stood the test of time and become a design classic.
I wonder what Edward Johnston would have thought about a variation of his font being printed on napkins, cushions and tea cosies nearly 100 years later! http://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/ltm/Christmas-gift-ideas.html
Why do you think this font works so well?
Filed under: Posters written by Catherine Mailhac
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Bakerloo centenary 1906-2006; hats off to you, by Gemma Stokes, 2006
This week we’ve we’ve picked out a this snippet of fashion history from the poster collection.
It is one of 10 posters made in 2006 to celebrate 100 years of the Bakerloo line as part of a collaboration between Platform for Art and the Royal College of Fashion. Each poster was inspired by a decade of fashion and de sign on the Underground. This is one of two posters commissioned from Gemma Stokes, who was studying for an MA in Fashion Photography. She’s now a freelance fashion photographer and has had her work in magazines, newspapers and on television.
You can search for Bakerloo Centenary on the Poster Browser or follow this link to see all 10 posters: http://www.ltmcollection.org/posters/results/results.html?IXsearch=bakerloo+centenary
Which one is your favourite and why does it stand out for you?
Filed under: Posters written by Catherine Mailhac
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