Linda King (Professional Historian)

About me

Email

Linda.King@iadt.ie
Bio

I am a design historian specialist in exploring how design, and visual and material culture expand understanding of cultural history. I am currently a consultant/curator to the National Treasures Project (El Zorrero Films) which will culminate in a 4-part TV series for RTE and an exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland (2018) https://nationaltreasures.ie
Areas of expertise

My current research interests focus on the history of Irish design, graphic design, the visual culture of aviation and travel, and Irish philanthropic architecture.
Keywords

design, graphic design, design history, cultural history, social history, design theory, tourism, aviation, material culture, visual culture, architecture, philanthropy,

Member Details

Full Name

Linda King (Professional Historian)
Membership Type

Professional Historian

Experience

Education

- PhD: Dublin City University (DCU), Design History/Irish Studies, Thesis Title: 'Traditions and Modernities – Aer Lingus and the Visualisation of Irish Identities 1951-1961'
- MA: National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Architectural / Social History, Thesis Title: 'Progressive Housing – the Development of Philanthropic Architecture in Ireland'
- BA: NCAD, Visual Communication Design / Art and Design History
Employment

- 2013-: Co-Programme Chair: BA (Hons) Visual Communication Design, IADT.
- 1999-: Lecturer in Design and Visual Culture, IADT
Consultancy work

- 2017-: Consultant/curator: National Treasures (RTE/NMI/El Zorrero Films).
- 2017-: Consultant (Philanthropic Architecture): National Archives (UK).
- 2017-: External Examiner: Design History, School of Humanities, Royal College of Art, London.
- 2015: Contributor/Consultant: Designing Ireland (4-part TV programme), Newgrange Pictures/RTE.
- 2015: Advisor/Consultant: Year of Design 2015 / Design and Crafts Council of Ireland.
- 2014-: External Examiner: Cultural and Critical Studies, University of Brighton.
- 2011-14: External Examiner: Faculty of Visual Culture, NCAD.
- 2010-11: Consultant/Researcher: to PIVOT (Dublin City’s bid for World Design Capital designation), Dublin City Council (Architect's Office).
- 2005-: Contributor on Design Issues: RTE 1 (TV, Designing Ireland series); RTE Radio 1 (including The Business (Conor Brophy/Richard Curran); Inside Culture (Fionn Davenport); Arts Tonight (Vincent Woods); The History Show (Myles Dungan); Culture File (Luke Clancy); and the Marian Finucane Show).
Committees & Associations

- Canadian Association of Irish Studies
- Member of Editorial Board of the Canadian Journal of Irish Studies
- Member Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI)
- Kilkenny Design Workshops Legacy Committee
- Member of AICA, the International Association of Art Critics
Awards

- 2011: IDI Eye, Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Design
- 2010: Publications Award, Design History Society

Publications

Books

- Linda King and Oonagh Young (eds.) Transdisciplinary Practice: Images, objects and discourse across creative contexts (Dublin, 2017).
- Linda King and Elaine Sisson, Ireland, Design and Visual Culture; Negotiating Modernity, 1922-1992 (Cork, 2011).
Book Chapters

- Art + Industry = Design in Linda King and Oonagh Young (eds.) Transdisciplinary Practice: Images, objects and discourse across creative contexts, Oonagh Young Gallery (Dublin, 2017).
- 'Particles of Meaning’: The Modernist Afterlife in Irish Design in Paige Reynolds (ed.), Modernist Afterlives in Irish Literature and Culture, Anthem Press (London/New York, 2016).
- 1953 – Cloak and gown, by Sybil Connolly in Fintan O'Toole (ed.) Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks, Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 2016).
- 1955 – Aer Lingus summer timetable, by Guus Melai in Fintan O'Toole (ed.) Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks, Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 2016).
- A Sense of Place: Icons as Wayfinding in Adrian Shaughnessy, Lance Wyman: The Monograph, Unit Editions (London, 2015).
- Design professionalization, political economy and educational reform (1940–79)' and Evolving and emergent forms (1980–2000) in Design and Material Culture in Twentieth Century, Vol. V, The Art and Architecture of Ireland (Yale/Dublin, 2014).
- Philanthropic Industrial Housing in Architecture 1600-2000, Vol. IV, The Art and Architecture of Ireland (Yale/Dublin, 2014).
- ‘‘Guinness is Good for You”: Experiments in Workers’ Housing and Public Amenities by the Guinness Brewery and Guinness/Iveagh Trust, 1872-1915 in Laurence M Geary and Oonagh Walsh and (eds.), Philanthropy in Nineteenth-Century Ireland (Dublin, 2015).
- Lance Wyman: Visual Poet in Ekaterina Alvarez Romero (ed.), Lance Wyman: Mexico, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo/Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (México City, 2014).
- (De)Constructing the Tourist’s Gaze: Dutch Influences on Aer Lingus Tourism Posters, 1951-61 in King and Sisson (eds.) Ireland, Design and Visual Culture: Negotiating Modernity 1922-1992 (Cork, 2011).
- Materiality, Modernity and the Shaping of Identity (with Elaine Sisson) in King and Sisson (eds.) Ireland, Design and Visual Culture: Negotiating Modernity 1922-1992 (Cork, 2011).
- Irish Design: History, Context and Possibilities, 1900-2011 in Pivot, Dublin City Council (Dublin, 2011).
Peer Reviewed Journals

- ‘Visual Shrapnel'​: Rethinking Irish Studies Through Visual Culture and Design Studies (with Elaine Sisson) in The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies, Vol. 38, Nos 1+2 (Montreal, 2015).
- Saints, Shamrocks and Signifying Practices: Aer Lingus and the Materialisation of Irish Catholic Identity in Eire/Ireland (Boston, 2011)
Other Journals

- Design Creates Culture in Karen Hennessy (ed.) Irish Design 2015: Making Design Matter, Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (Kilkenny, 2016).
- Reform and Advocacy: The legacy of the Kilkenny Design Workshops (1963-1988) in Vernacular, Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (Kilkenny, 2013).
Reviews

- Eileen Gray: Her Life and Her Work (book review), Canadian Journal of Irish Studies (2017).
- Futurismo 1909-2009: Velocità + Arte + Azione and F.T. Marinetti = Futurism (exhibition reviews), Design and Culture, 2:3, 343-348, Berg (2011).
- Airworld: Design and Architecture for Air Travel (book review), Design Issues, 26:2, Spring, MIT Press (2010).
Other

Peer reviewer for many Irish and international publishers on design, visual and material culture.