{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O301415"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O301415/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HE4597/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HE4597/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014HE4597","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O301415","accessionNumber":"T.638-1997","objectType":"T-shirt","titles":[{"title":"Pulling Out Before Cumming is Not as Safe as it Looks","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"This shirt was created as part of an campaign organised by ACON (AIDS Council of New South Wales) in January 1990. The campaign was notable in that it acknowledged how its target audience of gay and bisexual men might choose to live their lives. The frank and non-judgemental language used on this shirt encourages the reader to make informed choices to minimise their risk of contracting HIV+. The campaign also used colour and visually appealing imagery to capture people's attention as ACON had identified a need to be more relevant to their target audience, and to try to boost them morally rather than making them feel more afraid and scared than they already did. Effective antiretroviral treatments for HIV+ did not become widely available until 1996, which meant that campaigns such as this were, and still remain essential in educating people about the risks and slowing the spread of AIDS and HIV+.\n\nThis shirt was part of a large collection of T-shirts collected by Richard L. Velleman which included several shirts with LGBTQ+ and safe-sex themes, including rare London Pride shirts from 1985, alongside band shirts from Velleman's favourite rock and punk bands, others depicting skateboarding, surfing, and partying; and random amusing or funny shirts.\r\n\r\nRichard Lance Velleman (1961-1995) was a young London man who collected and wore these shirts, many of which show clear signs of having formed part of an actively and enthusiastically worn wardrobe. His shirt collection was donated to the V&A in his memory after his death. The choice of T-shirts is often deeply personal and subject to the wearer's individual taste, acting as a wearable billboard for their beliefs, tastes and other opinions.","physicalDescription":"White cotton T-shirt printed with 'Pulling Out Before Cumming is Not as Safe as it Looks' and a woodcut/linocut style design showing a blindfolded muscular man about to step off a high cliff,cloudy sky behind him. The artwork signed M.T. (possibly M.J. but cropped partially)","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"AIDS Council of New South Wales","id":"AUTH407973"},"association":{"text":"designed for","id":"x41471"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"cotton","id":"AAT14067"}],"techniques":[{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Printed cotton","categories":[{"text":"Clothing","id":"THES48975"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"},{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Gender and Sexuality","id":"THES48940"},{"text":"LGBTQ","id":"THES266921"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2014HE4597"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES309403"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"T-shirt","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Australia","id":"x30016"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1990","earliest":"1990-01-01","latest":"1990-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"T.637-1997","id":"O301416"},"association":"Series"}],"creditLine":"Donated by Andrew Shanahan in memory of Richard L. Velleman","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"75","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"22/10/2026","earliest":"2026-10-22","latest":"2026-10-22"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"PULLING OUT BEFORE CUMMING IS NOT AS SAFE AS IT LOOKS.\r\nYou always run the risk of going too far. Besides, the AIDS virus can be passed on in pre-cum. And infected blood can easily enter the tip of the penis. So it’s not worth the worry. Always do it in a condom. The blindfold is optional.\r\nAIDS COUNCIL OF NSW\r\n","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Printed"}],"objectHistory":"This shirt was created as part of an ACON campaign organised by the AIDS Council of NSW (New South Wales) in January 1990. It, and its companion shirt (T.637-1997) were produced specifically to be worn by bar staff in Sydney gay venues during the campaign period. The imagery on the shirts, along with two other artworks in the same vein, also reappeared in community press awareness ads and on posters and ephemera such as postcards, condom packets and flyers while the 1990 campaign was running. While the artist of this shirt design has yet to be confirmed, it is possibly Martin Thomas.\n\nIt was part of a large collection of T-shirts collected by Richard L. Velleman (1961-1995), which included several shirts with LGBTQ+ and safe-sex themes, including rare London Pride shirts from 1985, alongside band shirts from Velleman's favourite rock and punk bands, others depicting skateboarding, surfing, and partying; and random amusing or funny shirts.\n\nWe do not know who Richard Velleman was or anything about him beyond that he collected and wore these shirts, many of which show clear signs of having formed part of an actively and enthusiastically worn wardrobe; and that the collection of shirts was donated to us in his memory. The choice of T-shirts is often deeply personal and subject to the wearer's individual taste, acting as a wearable billboard for their beliefs, tastes and other opinions.\n\n- Daniel Milford-Cottam, 07/05/2025, updated 03/11/2026 (with thanks to Nick Henderson of the Australian Queer Archives)\n\nThe artwork of this shirt directly references a 1920 Russian pro-literacy poster by Aleksei Alexandrovich Radakov, titled 'The illiterate is a blind man: Everywhere pitfalls and misfortunes await him' (translated from the original Cyrillic). Apart from updating the figure and dressing him in contemporary jeans and T-shirt rather than traditional 1920 Russian clothing, the compositon of the 1990 image almost exactly pastiches the Radakov poster, down to the border around it which is also used on the other three images in the series (see T.637-1997 for example) for consistency and to tie them together.\n\n- DMC, 26/10/2026 (with thanks to Mathew Jones)","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Printed cotton T-shirt, AIDS Council of NSW, Australia, 1990","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Aids Council of NSW","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"AIDS","id":"x36197"},{"text":"safe sex","id":"THES266898"},{"text":"blindfolds","id":"THES265086"},{"text":"homosexuality","id":"AAT55188"},{"text":"cliffs","id":"AAT8749"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.638-1997"],"accessionNumberNum":"638","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1997,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-11-03","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}