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Man as machine

Andrew Lambirth

Wednesday, 24th September 2008

Cold War Modern: Design 1945–1970
V&A, until 11 January 2009

Inevitably, Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes make an appearance, as does Reg Butler’s famous attenuated ‘Monument to the Unknown Political Prisoner’ (1955–6). There’s rather a fine Corbusier-designed tapestry of wiry outlines and blocks of colour on a pale ground, and half-a-dozen Picasso ceramic dishes. Everyone will linger before the exhibits that most interest them — whether film, architectural models, chairs, or the nostalgia of posters. And what a lovely chance to think about the world as one big combat zone, or the so-called ‘politics of freedom’ (as the poet said: ‘Freedom, freedom, prison of the free’).

I was touched by the pathos of a clutch of pale plastic pots from East Germany, stacked up and as empty as the promises of politicians. I quite liked the wall cabinet of zoomorphic glass stones and assorted glassware from Czechoslovakia, very 1950s in its distinctive shapes. Also the section on spies, with film clips from old favourites such as Goldfinger, Dr No and The Ipcress File, together with secret cameras and a bugged wristwatch. The kinetic confusion of the room devoted to teletowers and the Space Race gave way to a chic dress by Paco Rabanne, a plastic version of chain mail. One of the most impressive exhibits was a dome suspended above the visitors’ heads in the last room, containing a tropical island environment. It was appropriately deserted, the hammock undulating in a fake breeze, no sign of human presence. This impression of absence was compounded by the 1960s headsets from Austria which transform the way you see. Evidently, the world was now of so little interest — because of what architects and designers had visited on it — that man must seek alternative realities. A height of negativity indeed.