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Design

2009 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Who? Where? How? was a game created for the V&A Friday Late event Home Sweet Home in 2009.

It was devised as a murder mystery trail around the Museum in which the visitor adopted the role of a detective investigating the murder of Henry Cole’s faithful dog Jim. The object of the game was to discover who murdered Jim, as well as where and how he was murdered, by collecting cards placed around the Museum.

Katharine McEwen illustrated each of the cards with either a potential murder weapon, murderer or location. Each of these relate directly to either the V&A’s collection or the building; the murder weapons are all objects from the Museum’s collection, the murderers are all designers whose works are held in the collection and the locations are all spaces within the V&A buildings.

The V&A has a broad and varied collection of objects that document the history of gaming including chessboards and chess pieces dating back to the mid-13th century, playing cards dating back to around 1500, as well as popular 20th-century family board games such as Cluedo and Monopoly. In addition, there is also a large collection of drawings, prints and paintings representing people playing games.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
gouache, pencil, coloured pencil, coloured crayon, unidentified glaze, watercolour paper, painted, drawing
Brief description
Design for the game 'Who? Where? How?' by Katharine McEwen, depicting part of the V&A Grand Entrance and a section of Dale Chihuly's Rotunda Chandelier [LOAN:CHIHULY.1-1999]. Designed for V&A Friday Late 'Home Sweet Home', 2009. Gouache, pencil, crayon and coloured pencil on watercolour paper.
Physical description
Design for a card game, depicting a section of one of the arches of the V&A Grand Entrance, as seen from below. The arch rises from a pilaster, with a balustrade running along its base. In the upper left corner is a section of Dale Chihuly’s V&A Rotunda Chandelier [LOAN:CHIHULY.1-1999] in blues, greens and yellows. Gouache over pencil, heightened with coloured pencils, crayon and pastels, with glaze in some areas.
Dimensions
  • Crop marks height: 15cm (Note: The design is marked in pencil to indicate the boundaries of the image.)
  • Crop marks width: 15cm (Note: The design is marked in pencil to indicate the boundaries of the image.)
  • Width: 209mm
  • Height: 249mm
Marks and inscriptions
KMCEWEN (Signed in pencil in bottom right hand corner of the image)
Credit line
Given by the artist, Katharine McEwen
Object history
Who? Where? How? was a game created for the V&A Friday Late event Home Sweet Home in 2009.

It was devised as a murder mystery trail around the Museum in which the visitor adopted the role of a detective investigating the murder of Henry Cole’s faithful dog Jim. The object of the game was to discover who murdered Jim, as well as where and how he was murdered, by collecting cards placed around the Museum.

Katharine McEwen illustrated each of the cards with either a potential murder weapon, murderer or location. Each of these relate directly to either the V&A’s collection or the building; the murder weapons are all objects from the Museum’s collection, the murderers are all designers whose works are held in the collection and the locations are all spaces within the V&A buildings.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Associations
Summary
Who? Where? How? was a game created for the V&A Friday Late event Home Sweet Home in 2009.

It was devised as a murder mystery trail around the Museum in which the visitor adopted the role of a detective investigating the murder of Henry Cole’s faithful dog Jim. The object of the game was to discover who murdered Jim, as well as where and how he was murdered, by collecting cards placed around the Museum.

Katharine McEwen illustrated each of the cards with either a potential murder weapon, murderer or location. Each of these relate directly to either the V&A’s collection or the building; the murder weapons are all objects from the Museum’s collection, the murderers are all designers whose works are held in the collection and the locations are all spaces within the V&A buildings.

The V&A has a broad and varied collection of objects that document the history of gaming including chessboards and chess pieces dating back to the mid-13th century, playing cards dating back to around 1500, as well as popular 20th-century family board games such as Cluedo and Monopoly. In addition, there is also a large collection of drawings, prints and paintings representing people playing games.
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
E.2956-2016

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Record createdDecember 30, 2015
Record URL
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