Museo del Objeto del Objeto
Encyclopedia
The Museo del Objeto del Objeto (Object (purpose) of the Object Museum or MODO) is a museum
in Mexico City
and the first museum in Mexico
dedicated to design and communications. It was opened in 2010 based on a collection of commercial packaging, advertising, graphic arts, common devices and many other objects dating back to 1810 collected by Bruno Newman over more than forty years. The museum is dedicated to the preservation of its collection of more than 30,000 items from two centuries, and it is dedicated to the research in the history of design and communications, as well as the promotion of collecting in general. The museum offers workshops, seminars, conferences and other activities intended to promote design and communication.
, Franz Mayer
, Museo del Juguete and others. Collectors have also been important to the development of state museums in the country as well. The museum is a private entity under a foundation of the same name, which was founded by Bruno Newman, a collector and founder/director of Zimat Communications in Mexico City. The museum is one of several efforts in the country to promote and consolidate information about the history and culture of commercial design in Mexico.
Newman’s collection forms the basis of the museum foundation’s mission, which is to encourage the research and promotion of communication and design in Mexico. MODO is considered to be the first of its kind , with many of its objects not normally displayed in museums in the country. It focuses on the analysis of its collection and similar objects using the principles of design and communications as well as the use of new technologies. The museum is also dedicated to the support of collectors of every day objects, promoting formal arrangement and study of the objects collected. One reason the museum promotes collecting is that very often items related to design and communication are simply thrown away as junk, such as 1980s sneakers and 1970s skateboards.
Work to establish the museum started in 2004, with the inventorying, cataloging and photographing of each of the pieces. The last was done not only for conservation purposes, but also to allow access to the pieces electronically. The building, a former mansion in Colonia Roma, was restored for the museum. The museum was inaugurated in October of 2010. The opening of the museum drew a number of international diplomats, including those from Russia
, Guatemala
, Haiti
and Slovenia
. Diplomats were invited to the event because the collection contains objects from various countries outside of Mexico.
La Gunilla Editores is the publishing branch of the MODO organization. It is dedicated to the research and publication of materials related to design and communications. Much of its work complements that of the museum producing books and magazine in both print and electronic forms. Its first eight books include Mexténcil, Calcomanías, Black Book México and Arte Urbe, which relates to graffiti in Mexico as a communication mode. Recorrido con Recordaciones y Encuentros con Conocidos are guidebooks to parts of Mexico and its capital, and El Objeto Insólito, o Solito and Una Gruesa de Colecciones both discuss collecting.
MODO’s gift shop promotes young, mostly Mexican designers to distribute their work. Another line of products are those based on the museum’s permanent collection and temporary exhibits.
The museum offers workshops, seminars, conferences and other activities designed to promote design and communication.
. They turned out to be of a brand called Pompei from France made in 1910 and no longer produced. When he placed them on a table in his room, visitors were attracted by them. He moved on to old shaving supplies, then to advertisements. He bought things no one else wanted as most collectors wanted old books, colonial pieces and documents. Over the years the collection filled his house, his office and then three warehouses. In the mid 2000s, Newman began the process to found the museum in order that the collection be preserved and studied, especially as it relates to the development of package design, publicity and the graphic arts. The permanent collection is divided into thirty seven sections based on theme, such as soda bottles, cigarettes, music, stationary, printing material, pharmaceuticals, clothing and textiles and more.
The total collection consists of over 30,000 items which date from 1810 to the present. This collection is too large to be shown in its entirety at the physical museum, so items on display rotate, presented in shows with themes or contexts. The first museum exhibit of the collection was a selection of 3,200 pieces entitles “Nostalgia for the ordinary.” Most items are related to packaging, especially bottles, advertising and the graphic arts and are from everyday life. Other items include presses, some of which are over 100 years old, soda bottles from brands no longer in existence, utensils, cosmetics, food containers, clothing items and domestic appliances. Some notable items include old paper grocery bags from the Sumesa supermarket chain, a beer advertisement from 1890 and commercial packaging from occupied Japan
. However, the museum space does not meet international standards of preservation. The collection is a starting point for the museum which aims to be a center of culture, exchange of idea and research for communication and design.
.
For Valentine’s Day 2011, the museum sponsored an event encouraging people to hang a padlock on the railings around the building after inscribing the name of their loved one on it. Then they took the key they locked it with and placed it in the museum’s antique mailbox after giving it a kiss. The idea was inspired by the Italian movies Tre metri sopra il cielo and Ho voglia di te where young lovers hung similar locks on a streetlamp and the threw the keys in the Tiber River. The act became popular in parts of Europe with locks being seen in various countries.
Collection of Collections was the museum’s first major temporary exhibit after its opening, staged as part of the foundation’s mission to promote collecting. The idea was to expand what is worthy of a museum exhibit, focusing on what the museum calls “urban collecting” about everyday objects not necessarily all that old. The idea behind it is that these objects have something to say about Mexican society.
The Collection of Collections consisted of seven collections belonging to private hands and one selected from the permanent collection of MODO. It is set up to show the wide range of collecting activities that occur in Mexico. Along with the display, the museum has co sponsored talks and meeting about collecting with academics from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. The total exhibit consisted of over 500 pieces with each collection given its own room. Postcard collection of Carlos Villasana and Raul Torres, who are well known Mexico City collectors. The exhibit only has about sixty of the over 15,000 which include rare ones by famous photographers such as Guillermo Kahlo
, Hugo Brehme and Charles B. Waite who documented aspects of Mexico from the late 1800s to the early 20th century. The 1980s tennis shoe ( belonging to Edgar Alejandro Cortes) and 1970s skateboard collections (belonging to Perseo Medrano) were arranged by Pablo Romo Molina, director of Street Active Lifestyle magazine. Other collections included toy robots belonging to Barbara Berger, antique lamps belonging to Alexandre Lamaire and hats from the 1920s to 1950s part of Rodrigo Flores´ collection. There is another room dedicated to Patricia Agraz´s hands collection and one room dedicated a set of domestic appliances which were part of the original donation to the museum by Newman.
In August and September of 2011, the museum and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México co-sponsored talks and workshops centered on design, communication and the collecting. These events invite academics from the university along with other specialists on design and collection. > In September 2011, the museum inaugurated an exhibit called "El MODO de Tassier" based on the pencil collection and drawings of graphic designer Gonzalo Tassier
.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and the first museum in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
dedicated to design and communications. It was opened in 2010 based on a collection of commercial packaging, advertising, graphic arts, common devices and many other objects dating back to 1810 collected by Bruno Newman over more than forty years. The museum is dedicated to the preservation of its collection of more than 30,000 items from two centuries, and it is dedicated to the research in the history of design and communications, as well as the promotion of collecting in general. The museum offers workshops, seminars, conferences and other activities intended to promote design and communication.
Organization
The Museo del Objeto del Objeto is part of a long tradition in Mexico City of collectors who donate their collections in order to found or expand museums. Art collectors and other kinds of collectors have been behind museums such as SoumayaMuseo Soumaya
The Museo Soumaya is a private museum in Mexico City with free admission. It is owned by the Carlos Slim Foundation and contains the extensive art, religious relics, historical documents, and coin collection of Carlos Slim and his late wife Soumaya, after whom the museum was named.The museum holds...
, Franz Mayer
Franz Mayer Museum
The Franz Mayer Museum , in Mexico City opened in 1986 to house, display and maintain Latin America’s largest collection of decorative arts. The collection was amassed by stockbroker and financial professional Franz Mayer, who collected fine artworks, books, furniture, ceramics, textiles and many...
, Museo del Juguete and others. Collectors have also been important to the development of state museums in the country as well. The museum is a private entity under a foundation of the same name, which was founded by Bruno Newman, a collector and founder/director of Zimat Communications in Mexico City. The museum is one of several efforts in the country to promote and consolidate information about the history and culture of commercial design in Mexico.
Newman’s collection forms the basis of the museum foundation’s mission, which is to encourage the research and promotion of communication and design in Mexico. MODO is considered to be the first of its kind , with many of its objects not normally displayed in museums in the country. It focuses on the analysis of its collection and similar objects using the principles of design and communications as well as the use of new technologies. The museum is also dedicated to the support of collectors of every day objects, promoting formal arrangement and study of the objects collected. One reason the museum promotes collecting is that very often items related to design and communication are simply thrown away as junk, such as 1980s sneakers and 1970s skateboards.
Work to establish the museum started in 2004, with the inventorying, cataloging and photographing of each of the pieces. The last was done not only for conservation purposes, but also to allow access to the pieces electronically. The building, a former mansion in Colonia Roma, was restored for the museum. The museum was inaugurated in October of 2010. The opening of the museum drew a number of international diplomats, including those from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. Diplomats were invited to the event because the collection contains objects from various countries outside of Mexico.
La Gunilla Editores is the publishing branch of the MODO organization. It is dedicated to the research and publication of materials related to design and communications. Much of its work complements that of the museum producing books and magazine in both print and electronic forms. Its first eight books include Mexténcil, Calcomanías, Black Book México and Arte Urbe, which relates to graffiti in Mexico as a communication mode. Recorrido con Recordaciones y Encuentros con Conocidos are guidebooks to parts of Mexico and its capital, and El Objeto Insólito, o Solito and Una Gruesa de Colecciones both discuss collecting.
MODO’s gift shop promotes young, mostly Mexican designers to distribute their work. Another line of products are those based on the museum’s permanent collection and temporary exhibits.
The museum offers workshops, seminars, conferences and other activities designed to promote design and communication.
Permanent collection
The museum’s permanent collection is based on the private collection of Bruno Newman, amassed over forty years. Newman began collecting when he was thirteen years old, fascinated by his uncle´s stamp collection. He says it was his first knowledge of other countries. He began collecting by purchasing five toiletry containers that he liked from the La Lagunilla MarketLa Lagunilla Market, Mexico City
La Lagunilla Market is a traditional public market in Mexico City, located about ten blocks north of the city’s main plaza, in a neighborhood called La Lagunilla. The market is one of the largest in the city and consists of three sections: one for clothing, one for furniture and one for foodstuffs,...
. They turned out to be of a brand called Pompei from France made in 1910 and no longer produced. When he placed them on a table in his room, visitors were attracted by them. He moved on to old shaving supplies, then to advertisements. He bought things no one else wanted as most collectors wanted old books, colonial pieces and documents. Over the years the collection filled his house, his office and then three warehouses. In the mid 2000s, Newman began the process to found the museum in order that the collection be preserved and studied, especially as it relates to the development of package design, publicity and the graphic arts. The permanent collection is divided into thirty seven sections based on theme, such as soda bottles, cigarettes, music, stationary, printing material, pharmaceuticals, clothing and textiles and more.
The total collection consists of over 30,000 items which date from 1810 to the present. This collection is too large to be shown in its entirety at the physical museum, so items on display rotate, presented in shows with themes or contexts. The first museum exhibit of the collection was a selection of 3,200 pieces entitles “Nostalgia for the ordinary.” Most items are related to packaging, especially bottles, advertising and the graphic arts and are from everyday life. Other items include presses, some of which are over 100 years old, soda bottles from brands no longer in existence, utensils, cosmetics, food containers, clothing items and domestic appliances. Some notable items include old paper grocery bags from the Sumesa supermarket chain, a beer advertisement from 1890 and commercial packaging from occupied Japan
Occupied Japan
At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This foreign presence marked the first time in its history that the island nation had been occupied by a foreign power...
. However, the museum space does not meet international standards of preservation. The collection is a starting point for the museum which aims to be a center of culture, exchange of idea and research for communication and design.
Temporary exhibits and events
The museum holds regular temporary exhibits related to its collection and purpose, including the work of artists. During its opening in 2010, there was a temporary art exhibit by Carlos Aguirre named “ODA a la Mujer” (Ode to a Woman). The exhibit consisted of five pieces created with phrases taken from a songbook series called Cancionero Picot. Aguirre selected portions of lyrics from these books, which are in the museum’s collection and include the first published in 1928. The selected lyrics were chosen as being depreciative to women to show misogynyMisogyny
Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. Philogyny, meaning fondness, love or admiration towards women, is the antonym of misogyny. The term misandry is the term for men that is parallel to misogyny...
.
For Valentine’s Day 2011, the museum sponsored an event encouraging people to hang a padlock on the railings around the building after inscribing the name of their loved one on it. Then they took the key they locked it with and placed it in the museum’s antique mailbox after giving it a kiss. The idea was inspired by the Italian movies Tre metri sopra il cielo and Ho voglia di te where young lovers hung similar locks on a streetlamp and the threw the keys in the Tiber River. The act became popular in parts of Europe with locks being seen in various countries.
Collection of Collections was the museum’s first major temporary exhibit after its opening, staged as part of the foundation’s mission to promote collecting. The idea was to expand what is worthy of a museum exhibit, focusing on what the museum calls “urban collecting” about everyday objects not necessarily all that old. The idea behind it is that these objects have something to say about Mexican society.
The Collection of Collections consisted of seven collections belonging to private hands and one selected from the permanent collection of MODO. It is set up to show the wide range of collecting activities that occur in Mexico. Along with the display, the museum has co sponsored talks and meeting about collecting with academics from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. The total exhibit consisted of over 500 pieces with each collection given its own room. Postcard collection of Carlos Villasana and Raul Torres, who are well known Mexico City collectors. The exhibit only has about sixty of the over 15,000 which include rare ones by famous photographers such as Guillermo Kahlo
Guillermo Kahlo
Carl Wilhelm Kahlo was a German photographer and father of artist Frida Kahlo, who painted his portrait....
, Hugo Brehme and Charles B. Waite who documented aspects of Mexico from the late 1800s to the early 20th century. The 1980s tennis shoe ( belonging to Edgar Alejandro Cortes) and 1970s skateboard collections (belonging to Perseo Medrano) were arranged by Pablo Romo Molina, director of Street Active Lifestyle magazine. Other collections included toy robots belonging to Barbara Berger, antique lamps belonging to Alexandre Lamaire and hats from the 1920s to 1950s part of Rodrigo Flores´ collection. There is another room dedicated to Patricia Agraz´s hands collection and one room dedicated a set of domestic appliances which were part of the original donation to the museum by Newman.
In August and September of 2011, the museum and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México co-sponsored talks and workshops centered on design, communication and the collecting. These events invite academics from the university along with other specialists on design and collection. > In September 2011, the museum inaugurated an exhibit called "El MODO de Tassier" based on the pencil collection and drawings of graphic designer Gonzalo Tassier
Gonzalo Tassier
Gonzalo Tassier is a graphic designer and publicity specialist from Mexico City, who has created a number of highly recognized logos and trademarks in Mexico. His was born in Mexico City in 1941. In his youth, he studied at the UNAM School of Architecture, then he studied philosophy for four years,...
.