Award-winning design critic Alice Rawsthorn will kick off the V&A’s 2019 exhibition programme

By Claire Merten
Alice Rawsthorn - Award winning artist, author, public speaker, and social media influencer. (Photo: Michael Leckie).

SeeDundee have been excited for the V&A’s 2019 exhibition programme for months now, and it’s finally just around the corner.

Kicking off the impressive programme of exhibitions (all of which explore the technological future of design) is OBE winning design critic and author Alice Rawsthorn.

Rawsthorn will host the V&A’s first New Year’s lecture – ‘Design as an Attitude’, which will discuss how designers are responding to an age of instability, the emergence of new wave technologies in design, digitally empowered designers, and so much more.

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Design as an Attitude | 1. As my new book, Design as an Attitude, comes out on Thursday, this week’s posts will be about it. The title is a tribute to László Moholy-Nagy, the great early 20th century designer, artist and visual theorist, who championed a remarkably eclectic vision of design that he summed up in 1947 with the words: “Designing is not a profession but an attitude.” By doing so , Moholy-Nagy liberated design from the constraints of the commercial role it had occupied since the Industrial Revolution by redefining it as an improvisational medium rooted in instinct, ingenuity and resourcefulness, open to everyone and applicable to every field. Design as an Attitude, which is based on the By Design columns I wrote for Frieze, explores how a new generation of designers are realising Moholy-Nagy’s vision by using digital tools to operate independently and to tackle global challenges such as the deepening environmental and refugee crises; the rise of inequality, intolerance and extremism; the recognition that many of the systems and institutions that organised our lives in the last century, are no longer fit for purpose; and the torrent of ever more complex and powerful technologies, which promise to transform society, though not always for the better. I hope you enjoy it. #design #designasanattitude #laszlomoholynagy @jrpringier @frieze With thanks to @jenniferhiggie for encouraging me to write it.

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Design as an Attitude is inspired by one of Rawsthorn’s critically acclaimed design books.

More about Rawsthorn

Rawsthorn was a design critic of the international edition of the New York Times for over a decade, for which she wrote a weekly, multimedia design column.

Her TED talk ‘Pirates, Nurses and Other Rebel Designers’ has been viewed by more than one million people worldwide.

She is now an extremely popular author, in-demand public speaker, and social media influencer.

When asked about Rawsthorn’s upcoming lecture, Allan McIntyre (V&A Dundee’s creative industries producer) said:

As an international centre for design, V&A Dundee aims to highlight and examine the powerful role design plays. We are delighted to welcome Alice to the museum to host our first New Year’s lecture and discuss the challenges and developments that are having a profound impact on societies around the world.

Hawsthorn herself is also excited about the event, and coming to Dundee, stating:

I am delighted to be returning to V&A Dundee to discuss the key themes of Design as an Attitude and to see how the programme is evolving and how the museum is influencing the city.

When and where

Hawsthorn’s lecture will be held on Thursday (10 January 18.30 – 19.30) in the Juniper Auditorium.

Tickets cost £8 (£6 concessions) and are available to buy from the V&A Dundee website or in person at the museum’s Welcome Desk.

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Claire Merten

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