Monthly Archive for February, 2010

Organs for you

Published by Lynne McNairn 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Collection: Powerhouse Museum

It’s Organ Donor Awareness Week and this reminded me of a very popular former exhibition object known as ‘Chocka Bits’

One of the most dramatic advances in surgery occurred when it became possible to replace body parts, either with artificial implants or with human or animal transplants. The first artificial implant was a heart pacemaker developed in Sweden in 1959. Metal and plastic replacement hip joints followed in 1961. Skin grafts had been carried out as early as the 1860s but transplantation did not become truly successful until the problem of rejection was overcome. The first effective immuno-suppressant drugs were introduced in 1960, making organ replacement possible. Kidney transplants came first, followed by heart transplants in 1967.

‘Chocka Bits’ was commissioned for the ‘Mind and body’ exhibition to display artificial body parts in a life-like mannequin. Over thirty different implants were obtained from different manufacturers and an experienced model making company was contracted to undertake the fabrication and fitting out of the mannequin.

‘Chocka Bits’ was installed in 1989 and was very popular with visitors, in fact it received so much attention that by 1992 its skin was looking very dilapidated and it had lost several foot bones and an artificial testicle (Chocka Bits is a hermaphroditic figure). After a lengthy period of repair, during which time it was given a new, hard fibreglass skin, ‘Chocka Bits’ was returned to ‘Mind and body’ in 1993. It remained on display until the exhibition was dismantled in 1995, by which time most of its ‘bits’ would have been made obsolete by the rapid advances in replacement surgery in the intervening decade.

Despite the dramatic life saving outcomes possible for transplant recipients the decision to provide organ donations remains a sensitive issue for many. Campaigns such as Organ Donor Awareness Week and World Kidney Day seek to bring the issue to community attention and encourage family members to discuss donation, know each other’s wishes and register their decision.

Mystery Object

Published by Erika Taylor 10 Comments Tags: .

Collection: Powerhouse Museum

This intriguing little object found its way into a curator’s hands this week.

It appears to be some kind of clamp, you twist the gripped handle and the head of it opens. The other handle swings freely around the head.

Give us your best guess readers, because we are stumped!

Tooth clamp?

Jewellery clamp?

Skiing: Norway, Cooma or Vancouver?

Published by Debbie Rudder 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Collection; Powerhouse Museum

With the Winter Olympics in full swing, skiing is in the news. Is that why the Powerhouse has a pair of ski stocks in a foyer showcase?

Well, no. They are on temporary display to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. And yes, sunny Australia does receive snow in a few locations.

It snows in Tasmania, our island state, and in some high parts of the mainland. Tasmania is largely powered by hydro-electricity, courtesy of its reliable rain and snowfall.

The Snowy Mountains Scheme, centred on Cooma in southern NSW, was established with the twin aims of supplying irrigation water and hydro power. Turning the waters of the Snowy River inland in order to do this began in earnest in October 1949.

The Powerhouse borrowed the stocks along with a pair of skis to display in an exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Scheme. They had been used by Norwegian-born Hans Berents, an engineer who worked on the Scheme, and helped us portray an important aspect of both working life and leisure. In 2005, the objects were donated by Peter Berents, son of Hans, and so were available for our modest 60th anniversary display.

Built for the Bush- bush architecture

Published by Charles Pickett 2 Comments Tags: , , .

Collection; Powerhouse Museum

The PHM has contributed several artefacts and photos to the exhibition Built for the Bush, currently touring several NSW museums. Curated by Richard Taylor of the Historic Houses Trust, Built for the Bush displays the environmentally friendly character of early bush architecture and its influence on contemporary architecture.

Richard (who used to work at the PHM like seemingly most of the museum profession!) writes:

For Australia’s early rural settlers, building simple, energy efficient homes was a necessity due to their limited access to materials, skills and resources’. Today, ‘traditional 19th century practices are inspiring a new generation to return to these low-energy solutions and minimise the environmental impact of modern housing.

One of the houses featured in Built for the Bush was built at Eugowra near Canowindra by John Andrews. As John donated his design archive to the PHM recently I thought it was timely to feature more pictures and information about the Eugowra house than could be included in the exhibition.

John Andrews designed the Eugowra house during the 1970s and lived in it until recently. At that time John was working on the monumental Cameron Offices at Belconnen as well as other projects in Canberra and Sydney and the central West of NSW appealed as a rural locale within practical driving distance of both cities.  Another motivation was John and wife Ro’s four sons; John and Ro believed the boys would enjoy and benefit from a rural upbringing, more down-to-earth and practical than that available at Palm Beach where the family was living following their return from the United States.

The main stock of the farm was deer. John had enjoyed venison during his years in North America and was one of the first to farm deer in Australia. With other innovative farmers, the farm’s produce helped create the Orange district’s reputation for fine food and wine.

Collection; Powerhouse Museum

The Eugowra property included a long-standing timber and iron homestead where the Andrews’ lived for a few years, giving an opportunity to assess the pros and cons of this generic building. In 1979 John designed a new house nearby, with a form closely resembling that of the homestead, low and verandahed, sheltered by a simple sloping roof.  Like the original home, the house is sited to benefit and protect from sun and wind, an important task given that temperatures at Eugowra vary from zero in winter to 40 plus in summer.

The water source is that collected by the roof and stored in its four corrugated steel water tanks placed at each corner of the enveloping verandah. The most innovative feature is the energy tower above the house’s central fireplace. A solar heat collector and pressure tank create a practical and visual statement of the house’s ability to shelter and sustain.

Drawing by John Andrews. Collection; Powerhouse Museum

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Drawing by John Adrews. Collection; Powerhouse Museum

Like its homestead predecessor, the Eugowra house is potentially timeless, an important response to the too-short lifespan of most Australian houses. The average age of most Australian houses is only about 35 years, an unusually fast changeover which produces houses driven by fashion rather than efficiency and comfort.

Although John Andrews was, with Glenn Murcutt and Rick Lepastrier, responsible for some of Australia’s first self-consciously ‘green’ architecture, his motivation was not entirely environmental. As Andrew Metcalf wrote in his book Canberra architecture, Andrews ‘was uninterested in fashion, rather he was concerned to find the ‘right’ outcome working from first principles in each commission’. When applied to larger buildings this method often produced original results including Australia’s first green office tower, the former American Express tower on the corner of George and King Streets.

John Andrews collection; Powerhouse Museum

Most of Andrews’ several office projects rejected the tower format, which he believed was flawed in some respects, including excessive reliance on climate control technology. The tower’s ‘sunglasses’ facade helped reduce the building’s energy bill by almost half.

Stick this in ya fuse box: Bon Scott 9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980

Published by Damian McDonald 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
 

© Newspix, all rights reserved.

 Hello, Howard, how ya doin’ friend; next door neighbour. Get your f#%*king jumbo jet outa my airport… Says Bon Scott in the end refrain of the 1976 song off AC/DC’s Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap ‘Aint No Fun (Waitin’ ‘Round to Be a Millionaire)’. You could be forgiven – if you were unaware of the impact Ronald Belford Scott had on the international rock music industry – for thinking Bon Scott a profane and trivial lyric writer. Because, well, he did use profanity, and he did write about fairly trivial things. But it was Bon Scott’s voice, both in an auditory and a literary sense that spoke to, and for a large section of Australian culture.

Irony. Something that may often be lost on certain overseas audiences, but something that drills straight into the core of Australian working class language. Bon Scott’s lyrics are chocka-block with irony. Bon’s lifestyle and proclivities were well known. So consider the lyrics of the song ‘Overdose’ off the 1977 album Let There Be Rock (and consider how Bon died): I never smoked me no cigarettes, I never drank much booze, but I’m only a man don’t ya understand, and a man can sometimes lose. Never drank much booze? C’mon, Bon! But he isn’t trying to deceive his us. We’re in on the joke. We know he’s being ironic. Even the theme of the song is both ironic and a clever use of nomenclature. The metaphor of a drug overdose as an overdose of love. The character in the song is clean of drugs, but addicted to sex. (Of course this is now a theme song for wealthy, high profile men when they get sprung as multiple philanderers.) Another example is the above song title: ‘Aint No Fun (Waitin’ ‘Round to Be a Millionaire)’. Waiting around? To be a millionaire? Only an Australian would make such a statement. The idea of waiting around, doing as little as possible, but in the hope of one day coming into big money. And this not saying that Australians are not hard workers. It’s just an ironic statement. And Australians get it.   

AC/DC were a very hard working band. They weren’t waiting around. They were slogging it out in pubs throughout the mid 1970s. And Bon, who was quite a bit older than the rest of the band, had already been doing it for a decade with other bands. The hard work paid off. Each album sold better than the last, and with the release of Highway to Hell in 1979, the band became internationally successful. And ironically, this played a big part in Bon’s death. The band was by no means an overnight success, but playing in pubs in Australia, making just enough money for a feed and a few bottles of Stones ginger wine is a long way from living in London, rehearsing in state-of -the-art studios and having access to as much booze as you want.

Those close to Bon say although he was happy with his success – it was his life-long dream – he was not entirely on top of the world while in London writing for the follow up to Highway to Hell. He was drinking heavily – waking up late and starting the day with a glass of whiskey – according to his Japanese girlfriend at the time, Anna. The week of his death, Bon had asked Anna to move out of his flat in Victoria (London) so he could concentrate on writing. On February 18, 1980 Bon had been drinking all day and went out with an acquaintance, Alistair Kinnear, to a bar where Bon downed glass after glass of quadruple scotches. Kinnear could not rouse Bon from his car when they arrived back at, first Bon’s flat, and then Kinnear’s flat, so Kinnear left Bon in the car to sleep it off.

Circumstance conspired against Bon. It was freezing, he was passed out and his body alcohol poisoned. And Kinnear didn’t go down to check on him until part way through the following day. Bon was pronounced dead on arrival at Kings College Hospital. Acute Alcohol Poisoning was the official cause of death. No other drugs were found in Bon’s system.

No one would argue that Bon Scott joined Jimmy Hendrix, Mama Cass, Janis Joplin, John Bonham and others in that ironic hall of fame. Amazing, original talent claimed by the lifestyle that enabled that talent to flourish. 

Bon’s voice is still as loud and clear as it ever was.

A final and maybe bitter irony is that AC/DC, with Brian Johnson singing, has become one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Certainly Australia’s most successful rock band. For many though there are two AC/DCs – Bon’s, and the other one. 

The Powerhouse Museum has in its collection not only one of Angus Young’s Gibson SG guitars, but this very cool original iron-on transfer from 1976, and a rare picture disc record which is on display in ‘The 80s are back’ exhibition.

Guest Curator: Maduncle Cliff: Steampunk part 2

Published by Erika Taylor 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Photography by Cliff Overton © all rights reserved.

Photography by Cliff Overton © all rights reserved.

The Museum was recently visited by artist, tinkerer, and ‘Steampunk’, Cliff Overton, who runs the ‘Antipodean Steampunk Adventures’ blog, and is currently exhibiting some of his works at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford as part of their ‘Steampunk’ exhibition. This is part two of an interview with Cliff, part one can be found here.

Can you give us any hints about upcoming devices you are working on?

as to what I am working on – well, I am committed to a series of ‘specific devices’ now and I am up to number 4A. This one will be an ‘aural investigation’ device that may have a practical application once completed.

Device currently under construction.

So Cliff, we see you are exhibiting pieces in the ‘Steampunk’ exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science, in Oxford, what is the ‘Steampunk’ community like in Australia?

The steampunk community in Australia is very strong and growing. I know of groups In Brisbane, sydney and Meblourne who regularly meet for formal events (such as cruises on Sydney Harbour) or for informal events such as group visits to flea markets).

I am working with some other steampunk enthusiasts on an event in Melbourne in May called ‘steampump’ which brings invention, fashion, music, science and pugulism together for one evening!

Call me biased, but I think that Melbourne is the natural home of steampunk in Australia (won’t that comment start an debate) because of the very Victorian era feel that the city has with the old streets and buildings.

Apple’s newest gadget the ‘ipad’ was just announced, and will most likely neatly slot into a world that is filled with sleek, shiny, plastic gadgets and technology. In this day and age why do you think steampunk, and the scene that surrounds it, is growing in popularity?

the very fact that Apple have released yet another innocuous white plastic device is the very reason Steampunk will thrive. Now I need to go in to the lab and build the timber and brass ‘Wpad’!

 

Many thanks to Cliff Overton for this interview and the use of his images

Prisoner-of-war bone ship model

Published by Melanie Pitkin 4 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Collection; Powerhouse Museum.

Imagine being a prisoner-of-war, locked in the hulk of an overcrowded, old ship. How would you pass your time? You could tell stories, daydream and reflect on ‘better times’ or perhaps make things out of the limited materials available to you – the clothes and jewellery on your body, left over food scraps or your own hair.

During the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815), French captives held in British prisons and ships produced ship models, typically made from the left over bone from their staple diet of mutton stew. Gradually, after each meal, the prisoner would build up a collection of bone which he would submerge for prolonged periods in wet clay to make it pliable, before working on its construction.

This particular bone ship model in the Powerhouse Museum’s collection would have been made by a skilled artisan. It is a rare example as it bears the French flag (the production of most prisoner-of-war ship models were shown with the British flag, since prisoners generally made models for sale to the local British markets).

It is a 72-gun French Frigate warship, which because of the French flag, the time it was made and the resemblance, may in fact be identified as the 74-gun French vessel, ‘Le Heros’, produced as a souvenir example for the maker. Since prisoners did not have images to copy or the aids of draughts or plans this meant they were forced to rely on both their memory and imagination, thus errors were likely.

However, to throw a spanner in the works (and this is what makes research fun!), at the time the Museum acquired this model we received the following information “…made by a French convict in a settlement off the Australian coast line”. This would, at first, seem unlikely as the model is typical of those produced by French prisoners held in England during the Napoleonic Wars – but then perhaps the statement refers to New Caledonia, which became a French penal settlement in 1862?

If the “French convict” was an ex-prisoner of the English during the Napoleonic Wars, this would mean that he was probably aged in his late seventies or early eighties when travelling to New Caledonia (not a pleasant trip for a man of that age!) – but then neither would his manual dexterity allow the creation, I believe, of such a fine model.

Maybe the model was taken to New Caledonia or another French Pacific possession by the descendants of an ex-Napoleonic Wars prisoner of the British? The model may have been made in England, but was retained by a French prisoner and presented to his family upon his release and return home to France, which would also explain the French flag.

Or, maybe there was an error in the transmission of this statement, and it was actually supposed to read British Coast line, rather than Australian!?

What do you think?

Have you weighed your handbag lately?

Published by Melanie Pitkin 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Photography by Paula Bray © all rights reserved

Friends often comment on the weight of my handbag, joking that I must be carrying around a brick (or two)! So, I decided it was time that my bag, on a typical working day, went for a ‘weigh-in’…3.6kg!

After doing a bit of research, I discovered that the British retail store Debenhams have actually already done a study on this. They found that in 2006, the content of an average woman’s handbag (used during the day) weighed 3.5kg, but four years on the average is now 1.5kg, owing to new slimline gadgets and more compact accessories.

But, of course, the size of the handbag and also what fashion is currently in, greatly determines how much you can or can’t stuff inside. For instance, I am a true believer that if you have a large handbag you have to fill it in order to retain its form.

This made me think about some of the more recent handbags (since the mid 1990s) we have in the Powerhouse Museum’s collection – those which are oversized, undersized and everything in between.

Bag designed by John Galliano. Collection, Powerhouse Museum.

This handbag was designed by John Galliano for the Christian Dior Spring-Summer 2000 ready-to-wear collection and measures 36cm high x 30cm wide x 9cm deep. The shape of the bag is designed to the contours of the owner’s body, worn high on their left shoulder, with the ‘D’ keyring facing out – meaning little strain can be placed on the body.

The bag forms part of a complete Dior outfit, comprising an assymetrical denim jacket, knee length skirt printed with horse harness and pair of long printed denim boots, selected for the Grand Marnier/Powerhouse Museum Fashion of the Year 2000 program.

Bag designed by Issey Miyake. Collection, Powerhouse Museum.

This handbag was designed by Issey Miyake and belongs to his ‘Pleats Please’ range. The items in this range were characterised by the application of traditional shibori tie-dyeing techniques to modern fabrics (in this case, polyester) and then cutting the design before setting the pleats. The bag is 35cm high x 24.5cm wide x 5cm deep and has a pair of gros grain handles for wearing over the shoulder or clutching at the side. The bag forms part of the Gene Sherman collection of Japanese fashion.

Bag designed by Tom Ford. Collection, Powerhouse Museum.

This crescent shaped bag, called ‘Mombassa’, was designed by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent in 2002. It is made from segments of buffalo leather and trimmed with a large deer horn handle and measures 40cm high x 38cm wide. It forms part of a women’s outfit, consisting of a blouse, skirt and pair of shoes, selected for the Grand Marnier/Powerhouse Museum Fashion of the Year 2002 program.

Bag designed by William Tang. Collection, Powerhouse Museum.

This is a rectangular shoulder bag made of black polyester fake fur designed and made by William Tang & Co. Ltd in Hong Kong in 1997. It belongs to an ensemble comprising a top, trousers, coat, bra and skull cap. The bag, as with the rest of the ensemble, was inspired by Hong Kong’s handover to China on 1st July 1997 and it measures 103cm high x 31.5cm wide x 10cm deep.

Bag designed by Marc Jacobs and Stephen Sprouse. Collection, Powerhouse Museum.

I couldn’t resist including this Louis Vuitton monogram silver graffiti ‘Speedy’ bag designed by Marc Jacobs in collaboration with Stephen Sprouse in 2001. Although made as a travelling bag (it measures 27cm high x 42cm wide x 21.5cm deep), it could also be classed as an ‘oversized handbag’ as made famous among a number of Hollywood celebrities; worn with their oversized sunglasses and very much undersized dogs.

The design of this bag was inspired by a visit to Charlotte Gainsbourg’s apartment (actress and singer-song writer) where Jacobs noticed a Louis Vuitton hard suitcase, which Gainsbourg had inherited from her father Serge, covered in black paint, but allowing the Monogram canvas pattern to show through. The bag was acquired for the Grand Marnier/Powerhouse Museum Fashion of the Year program in 1998.

But, I guess what it all comes down to is the choice of what goes in a handbag, irrespective of size – and the heavy culprits can include everything from books and food to diaries, makeup and electronic gadgets. Since the weigh-in experiment, I’ve come to look at my own handbag as a bit of a health risk – since 3.6kg is actually equivalent to carrying around 1.5 average red clay bricks (so, my friends were right after all)!

What does your handbag weigh?

An Early Edison Tinfoil Sound Recording Machine

Published by Geoff Barker 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Collection; Powerhouse Museum

Edison Tinfoil Phonograph, gravity fed model, made by the London Stereoscopic Company (attributed), 1878-1888, H3168


This tin foil sound recording and play back machine [H3168] has been in the collection since 1915. For many years it was presumed to be a model of the original machine designed by Thomas Edison but in fact its story is far more interesting.

Edison designed the first recording machine in 1877 but soon after small number of commercial phonograph machines were made in England based on Edison’s design. While early Edison machines were hand cranked these utilised a falling weight to turn the cylinder. This style of machine appears to have originated in London’s General Post Office after Mr. W. H. Preece, Engineer-in-Chief at the General Post Office. arranged for a tinfoil machine to be made by Augustus Stroh a colleague of his. This was done under the guidance of Henry Edmunds, a British engineer who had seen Edison’s original and had written an article on it for The Times 17 January 1878.

Stroh’s machine was demonstrated at the Royal Institution on 1 February 1878 and when the London Stereoscopic Company recieved a license to make machines based on Edison’s patent the incorporated Stoh’s and their own design features making distinctly British models. By 1886 the company was offering three models, including one driven by a falling weight, and one which was spring driven. After an email correspondence with Rene Rondeau, a specialist in tin foil machines, we believe this is one of the London Stereoscopic Company’s spring driven models with an air controlled governor attached to the spinning axel.

Tinfoil Phonograph, detail of governor, H3168

Collection; Powerhouse Museum

 Tinfoil Phonograph, detail of governor, H3168

Edison’s tin foil machine never achieved great commercial success as they were expensive and the delicate nature of the foil surface made them fragile. Instead it was another sound recording machine designed by Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter, called the ‘graphophone’, which established a popular standard for the sound recording industry. As a result tin foil machines like the ones designed and made by the London Stereoscopic Company fell into disuse although they remain rare examples of the early days of sound recording.

Guest Curator – Maduncle Cliff, Steampunk part 1

Published by Erika Taylor 0 Comments Tags: .

Cliff Overton © all rights reserved.

The Museum was recently visited by artist, tinkerer, and ‘Steampunk’, Cliff Overton, who runs the ‘Antipodean Steampunk Adventures’ blog, and is currently exhibiting some of his works at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford as part of their ‘Steampunk’ exhibition. We caught up with him to find out more:

Hi Cliff, would you tell us a little about this ‘Steampunk’ business, what it means to you, and how you got interested in it?

Well – Steampunk found me really, in that a dear friend of mine showed me a website with a picture of a computer keyboard made from old typewriter keys (google Datamancer for more). I looked at that and thought, ‘that looks like the sort of things I build for the fun of it’ so I guess I was doing Steampunk stuff before I knew about Steampunk. I have always collected parts of old things and then tried to put them together in new ways.

A lot of this was my rebellion against my chosen proffession at the time – that of an Industrial Designer. Everything I did professionally had to look new and sleek and hi tech – wheras my art using found objects was very ‘function followed form’ based and more ad-hoc in design outcome.

Cliff Overton © all rights reserved.

One of my first builds – circa 1997 (I still have it).

So I did more research on Steampunk via the web, got on some forums, made some friends, met up with a few local devotees at a flea market in Camberwell and things have snowballed from there.

I needed a moniker – so I returned to my past as an industrial designer and re-adpoted the name ‘maduncle’ given to me by a shop owner who was selling some of my furniture many years ago.

I think a big part of the steampunk subculture is around having a steampunk persona you can develop. I am modelling myself on the Victorian scientist/inventor philanthropist type. Although I am yet to get myself a genuine vintage collapsable silk topper that fits. (big hint here – got any spares in storage?)

Although I do have an Etsy site and I do sell some of my work, I am not in it as a business. It is more of a ‘show and tell’ exercise, and then I pass on the finished item at a reasonable cost to an admirer. The greatest compliment is getting commissioned work, that shows the growing interest in the Steampunk style as a medium for other products.

Cliff Overton © all rights reserved.

My first commission – the ‘Damnation PS3′ for the launch of the computer game of the same name. 2008.

I would like to see a ‘proper’ exhibition of Steampunk art here in Australia – a lot of the work in Europe and the USA is stunning.

Right now I am making a new series of objects called ‘Specific Devices’ inspired by my visit to the Powerhouse Museum. Some of them will look old and purposeful, without anyone (including me) knowing their real purpose. Others will have a real use (such as the examinerscope I built recently).

Q. So what did you find in the Museum’s collection that inspired you?

babbage difference engine

Collection; Powerhouse Museum

The absolute ‘oh how I wish I could sneak you out past the guards and take you home’ stand out item was the Babbage difference engine component on display.
Photography by Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved

That was a very ‘steampunk moment’ for me. I would love to build a complete one – I have seen a working Meccano one so it can’t be that difficult…

Cliff Overton © all rights reserved.

Other than that, all of the old scientific devices on display (well – all the brass ones) and of course the steampowered section. The old brass devices did inspire me to make my first ‘specific device’.

What is particularly intertesting for my wife Tanya and I is that we did not know there was a real Strasbourg clock, let alone a replica in the Powerhouse, and we will be in Strasbourg in September. So we are already planning a special visit to the life size clock, now we have seen the model.

To Be Continued……..