{"id":78340,"date":"2016-12-09T22:43:58","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T21:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e52.nl\/?p=78340"},"modified":"2016-12-09T22:43:58","modified_gmt":"2016-12-09T21:43:58","slug":"the-philips-museum-and-the-missing-tv-from-1970","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/the-philips-museum-and-the-missing-tv-from-1970\/","title":{"rendered":"The Philips Museum and the missing TV from 1970"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOnly few people know that Philips designed the first Dutch satellite in 1969.\u201d Sergio Derks is speaking intensively \u00a0in front of one of the display cabinets. He is the curator of the <\/span>Philipsmuseum\u00a0<\/span><\/a> on the Emmasingel and he has composed the expo Space Age Design at the museum. \u201cIt was a collaboration between Fokker and Philips, Philips delivered all electronic components for the satellite. In 1974 it was finally sent into space.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"_BEU1024med\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a special time, socially as well as in terms of technological developments. In 1969, when I was a little boy, my father took me out of bed when Armstrong landed on the moon. The majority of the older people among us will probably remember what they were doing at that moment.\u201d The exposition is, according to Derks, composed to introduce the stories from that time to the younger generations. \u201cBecause aerospace has been a great inspirer for the design of consumer goods.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SpaceAge_Philips<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat starts in the late 50s, Russia sends the Sputnik 1 into space and later in 1961 Yuri Gagarin is the first man in space. The western world, especially America, wants to keep up and invests a lot in aerospace. At the same time the wealth of the people is increasing, more and more products are becoming widely available for everyone.\u201d Derks is pointing at a small sized transistor radio. \u201cMany buttons and sliders, it looks very technical and complicated. That was typical for that time. In the late 50s, people were very optimistic about the technical progress, anything was possible. Youth culture arrived, the youth could now choose what music they wanted to listen to thanks to the invention of the cassette.\u201d Derks is taking you through time and via\u00a0several products and stories he ends up at the \u201cmoonshaver\u201d from 1969. The story goes that the shaver is specifically designed for astronauts, with a built in hair hoover so that the beard hairs wouldn\u2019t float around in space. Revolutionary for that time, says Derks. \u201cbut I don\u2019t think that such a device has ever really been in space, it\u2019s way too heavy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Z6706x<\/a><\/p>\n

Also in the ’70s, confidence in technology was as great as ever. \u201cThe thought at Philips was that they could solve world problems with it. The Evoluon was a do-museum for technical progress at the time. It looked very futuristic and visitors could be introduced to the inventions of the future.\u201d Derks gives the example of the first videophone, an old fashioned phone with an associated screen. \u201cNow you would use your smartphone, that was unimaginable at the time.\u201d Philips keeps thinking ahead and they\u2019re thinking of all sorts op applications for the future together with a team led by Syd Mead, an American futurist, designer and illustrator. Derks is pointing to several posters from 1970 that are hanging on the wall. \u201cAt the time they were already talking about a 3D colour television and learning from a distance, where every student is looking at his own screen. I find that very special.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the curator there are similarities between now and then: \u201cNow we\u2019re also pushing limits, everything has to be smaller, faster and with more capacities. It was like that before as well. The moon then, is now Mars. We\u2019re even already talking about Mars colonies. That is what makes this exhibition so interesting, I think the youth will also recognize that comparison.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"G5398-3<\/a><\/p>\n

The crown piece of the exhibition isn\u2019t physically present, only on a poster. Derks: \u201cA space-like television with a built in lamp from 1970. This copy was never marketed, so there are only a couple of \u00a0prototypes. Very rare. Through our Philips networks we are still searching. I hope it will show up one day, that would be fantastic\u201d, \u00a0he laughs: \u201cso if somebody happens to have it in their attic, please report\u00a0to us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally: not only designers were inspired by aerospace, musicians were too. Dick Raaijmakers who was experimenting on the electro-acoustic field at the old Natlab, composed the piece \u2018song of the second moon\u2019 in 1957, based on the beeps of the first Russian satellite. Kid Baltan, as Raaijmakers called himself, in fact was one of the originators of electronic music.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n