A power point used by Sir John Eccles, the Nobel Prize winning neurophysiologist, is part of an art exhibition which has reimagined everyday objects salvaged from the refurbishment of the John Curtin School of Medical Research and turned them into art.
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"I know we've got the actual power point he used for his desk lamp in there somewhere," says sculptor Martin Rowney, who has created a series of works from the recycled goods.
Bakelite switches, power points, Negretti and Zambra thermographs, pressure gauges, fans, and bells were salvaged during the construction works on the new building at the Australian National University in the mid-2000s.
"The work started out as a collection of objects," says Rowney - indeed, he took ownership of a whole shipping container of stuff.
"I decided the best way to approach them was to look at how they related to the context they came from, the building they came from, and I researched what was being done at the John Curtin School."
He said Eccles' research into electrical impulses in the central nervous system, for which Eccles won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was a starting point.
"I though where can I draw the art inspiration from the nervous system and part of the research was done on spinal columns and that became a key idea."
Neural Nexus is a floating collection of spinal columns made from powerpoints and polished steel. It accompanies two other works, Network and Rosamond (named for Eccles' daughter who helped on her father's research team), which use the power point covers, in referencing the role of the neurons.
"The electrical networking aspect of the power points really lent itself to the unfolding story about that research," Rowney says.
"The nervous system is an electrical network, there was a real synergy between the material and the concept."
The exhibition was developed by ANU Heritage to highlight the many ways in which heritage values of a place and be interpreted, explored and retained.
The idea of "heritage" being about "people and stories" is one that appealed to Rowney.
"The exhibition is called Silent Witnesses because all these ordinary objects were in some way 'silent witnesses' to all the important research that was being conducted," he said.
Professor Greg Stuart, the head of the Eccles Institute of Neuroscience at the JCSMR, said it was great to see how the pieces had been repurposed.
"The John Curtin School has a great history and history should live on," Professor Stuart said.
"Much of my research into the brain follows on from the work of Eccles. He left an incredible legacy here at ANU."
The JCSMR is one of the four foundation research schools at the ANU. It was built in 1958 and was one of the first permanent buildings to be constructed on campus.
The northern half of the JSCMR was demolished in the mid-2000s and in 2007 the first stage of the new state-of-the-art building was opened. The original building underwent a refurbishment in 2014 and many of the fitting were reinstated as non-functioning affectations.
The rest were reassembled into the artworks by Rowney.
Silent Witnesses is on display in the China in the World building (#188), Fellows Lane, ANU, Acton, until January 19, 2018, from 9am to 5pm weekdays.
