Experimentations Exhibition
Developed 1984-1988, open 1988-2009 and ongoing
Experimentations was one of the long-term exhibitions to open with the
then new Powerhouse Museum in 1988. Jesse supervised the team developing
this new style multiple-media, highly interactive, 700 square metre
science display which needed no explainers for visitors to appreciate
the content. Jesse wanted the exhibition to change people’s attitudes
about science. He aimed to reach an audience who were likely to think
that art was beautiful but science was not, that science was an activity
done mainly by bearded middle aged men, that science wasn’t relevant to
their lives and that it was boring. Therefore the exhibition look and
feel had to be beautiful and inviting and its content and experiences
convey how science was part of everyone’s everyday lives, that it
involved a wide range of people and that science was an enjoyable
activity. Experimentations immediately became the museum’s most popular
exhibition and remained so for more than a decade. Its design enabled
sections to be replaced and with Chemical attractions opening in 1996
and Nuclear matters in 2007 the popularity of the gallery continues.
Image reproduced courtesy of the Powerhouse Museum,
Sydney. Photo: Andrew Frolows Rolex Replica
The ‘Kinetic sculpture’ in the Experimentations
exhibition is an example of a specially
designed exhibit which intrigues visitors
while promoting the science in surrounding
displays. This exhibit became a much admired
centrepiece for ‘Up and down’, the section
which deals with gravity and motion. A
hidden motor drives a wobble plate which
makes groups of the rod linkages oscillate
up and down. This movement gives a slow
hypnotic wavelike motion to the outer
circular and inner spiral tracks. A cart on
the outer track predictably rolls along the
downside face of the wave. But the cart on
the inner track rolls upwards following the
narrowing spiral until it reaches the apex
and then races down the steep end to start
its upward journey once again. Visitors of
all ages try to figure out how the inner
cart seems to defy gravity for most of its
circuit. The exhibition team had the museum
commission the Studio of Arts and Sciences
to create this intriguing and captivating
display.
Image reproduced courtesy of the Powerhouse
Museum, Sydney. Photo: Andrew Frolows
This is a typical example of the use of
multiple types of media in an exhibition. This
interactive exhibit in the Experimentations
exhibition enables visitors to bring to life
some of the ideas represented in an adjacent
showcase. People of diverse ages and interests
find one or more of the multiple types of media
in the displays suit their particular learning
style. The variety of experiences and methods of
communication help engage a wide audience and
works especially well for family groups. |
