Regional Development

As the year draws to a close, and taking with it we hope the close of several of its less than affirmative developments, it can now be revealed that plans have begun for the Museum's next physical incarnation. Plans both concrete, as in lines on peper, and abstract as in visions.

On the concrete front - well not so much a front as a concrete base with a front more likely of wood - a plan of sorts has been submitted to our glorious local authorities for their approval. It is envisaged that this site will before too long be the Museum's first regional campus, its principal research facility where ideas can flourish and focus, can foment and ferment, and freely fertilized by salt air and the call of the cockatoo, find fruition.

Admittedly at the moment all we have what is what is known in the development world as a greenfields site. Which, thanks to all the rain we've had in recent months, is actually green, except for the small brown mounds that are ant nests. It is hoped that Al will be able to begin construction early in 2011.

In more abstract developments, it is intended that in addition to the regional R&D facility there will be a new display facility at an inner-urban location to replace in some way our former and lamented presence at the Nicholas Building. Details yet to be resolved will be communicated here in due course.

Noted

We don't get out much and so it has only just come to our attention that back in February the itinerant Melbourne art critic Mark Holsworth wrote some nice things about the Museum in his blog Melbourne Art and Culture Critic .

Thanks Mark. And even though we are no longer in the Nicholas Building, the spirit lives on and the physical manifestation will be returning before long.

But we do have Melbourne

Since his return to Melbourne in early July, the director has been engaged for much of the time in the relocation of the Museum - a dismal but necessary chore made necessary by unpleasant external forces which have been alluded to elsewhere.

Unfortunately the move has meant the Museum has had to suspend its popular display programme. Fortunately most of the completed works have been successfully relocated to temporary premises courtesy of the Kitchener Institute. Despite the current inconvenience there is nevertheless a small benefit to be found among all the disruption, in that the enforced furlough now provides an opportunity for maintenance and repairs which had been a tad neglected. There has also been a necessary culling of the museum's research material.

We no longer have Paris

Paris is still there of course but we - the Director and staff - aren't. News since the previous posting has been scarce for many reasons, mostly unconvincing. We could blame the limited computer facilities in Paris, or the limited spare time, or the limited subject matter, but it would all be somewhat specious and irrelevant.

As a postscript to the previous post it cannot go unremarked that M Gramme stands in bronze in the forecourt of the much-admired Musée des Arts et Metiers which the Director visited on several occasions during his research trip.

And there is much one could (and possibly will) say about le Musée des Arts et Metiers. For now we will merely record the satisfaction of seeing there a model of Henry Maudslay's steam table engine

Paris report

We are pleased to be able to report some observations from Paris where the director is currently engaged in further research and liaison with corresponding organisations.

We had hoped to renew a long-standing and valued association with the Belgian office of the Kitchener Institute, however it was not possible due to their principal's urgent departure to Melbourne. Ironic, some might say; others might see instead an elegant (even fearful) symmetry.

And speaking of Belgians (which we aren't very often) we were more successful with a visit to the memorial for Zénobe Théophile Gramme at the Père-Lachaise cemetery. M Gramme, who is credited with the first commercial dynamo, does not get about much these days. We understand he is also honoured at the renowned Musée des Arts et Metiers, which is also on the director's itinerary.

Re:location

We are saddened to report that the Museum of Electrical Philosophy will soon lose its physical presence in Melbourne's historic Nicholas Building. Our operating budget has been under considerable pressure in the past year or so and now we have a 25% rent increase. So that's it for a while.

The archived works, works under construction and our incomparable collection of research material will go into temporary storage onsite, thanks to the cooperation of our neighbour André who will be taking over the premises progressively.

It is hoped some alternative location can be found when the director returns from study leave in July. His research proposal refers to several European museums, and it is hoped he will be diligent in posting reports of his research here from time to time.

Philosophy vs engineering

Work continues on the new - well, newish - research project, studying the relationship between the falling annular disc and the helical column. Or the washer and the threaded rod if you prefer. And it must be acknowledged that the museum's strength, such as it is, lies more with the electrical than with the mechanical.

As noted last month, we achieved some success in the electrical circuitry for retrieving the washer. (With thanks to our leading consultant who having helped with our problem is now solving Belgium.) The next step was the design of the lift mechanism and the sliding magnet carriage.

First design of the lift used a continuous up/down loop, not unlike the string that once moved the pointer on the radio dial, when we had mechanical devices like knobs and those nice multi-plate variable capacitors where if you looked closely you could almost see the electrons leaping the void... but I digress. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time but the string wanted to migrate along the shaft which would have led to longer paths and tensioning devices and all in all mitigated against a compact design.

So now we are trying the fishing reel model - wind it up, let it down. Stay tuned

About the Nicholas Building

It has only recently come to our attention that the ABC Arts website has a short video item about the Nicholas Building and some of its tenants. There is no mention of this Museum, but the view of the cathedral across the road is the same as the Director enjoys from his office. He would enjoy it more if we cleaned the windows.

Try www.abc.net.au/arts/stories/s2724520.htm but we don't know how long it will remain available.

Current research

Current research has been focused on a problem that has been at the back of our minds for a few years. We now appear to be close to completion of the prototype, and must acknowledge the significant contribution of a close Friend of the Museum who has been unstinting with his technical advice and encouragement.

This is a larger work which won't conform to the Museum's regular 60-cm diorama. Scale matters and frankly a smaller version just would not do the job. Something will be arranged somehow.

We can't say much at this stage about the work or the embodied principles, but we can reveal that it incorporates a magnet, a motor and bits of hardware. And of course some electricity.

And as Bob said: "It was gravity which pulled us down..."

Recent exhibits

Despite the lack of posting activity here, the Museum has not been entirely idle. Exhibits at the Nicholas Building have been changed.

For quite a while we had Whirling Dervishes Demonstrate the Formation of Stalactites. This was developed as a sequel to an earlier work, Whirling Dervishes Study Improvisation (shown below if you care to scroll down), and proved to be popular with the passing traffic. Photographs were taken and will be posted here if the archivist can be found.

More recently we released the current exhibit, provisionally titled The Rotary Bistable Oscillator: an Exploration. This too has received some favourable comments. And again, a photograph may appear before long.