OSCILLATIONS
From a Native Police uniform badge to a shard of space junk and a mysterious tin shed dedicated to electrical healing, Oscillations takes artists and listeners deep into the Powerhouse's collection of half a million objects to unearth stories about the vibrations, fluctuations, and movements woven through our world – and beyond it.
Presented by Jon Tjhia and theme by Erin Hyde (Sig Nu Gris).
Image Zan Wimberley, still from the beginning, the middle, the end, 2021, video, single channel, 15 mins and 1 second.
- Update frequency
- every 4 days
- Average duration
- 15 minutes
- Episodes
- 8
- Years Active
- 2022
JINGHUA QIAN – HARD READ
Object No. 97/92/14-5
What does it cost to be visible? Chinese and trans people shift in and out of focus in Australia’s historical records – appearing and disappearing, code-switching, oscillating.…
SALLY OLDS – MUTUAL OBLIGATION
Object No. 2007/56/104
In Mutual Obligation Sally Olds looks into unemployment activism in 1970s Australia, when Malcolm Fraser was Prime Minister and Milton Friedman toured the continent. The piece…
OMAR MUSA – RADIESTHESIA
Object No. 87/1192
Omar Musa responds to the Radiesthesia pendulum in a piece about divination and love. ‘I was drawn to this object because it seemed evocative of the type of spirit that poets (and…
MIYUKI JOKIRANTA – A RADIATING BODY
Object No. 2004/42-1
A Radiating Body turns to the not-so-distant past, when the body still held mystery and medicine still had a touch of magic about it. This replica of a multi-wave oscillator mac…
JOHN JACOBS AND JANE CURTIS – PUSH TO WALK: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE PEDESTRIAN BUTTON
Object No. 87/234-1
The PB/5 pedestrian crossing button is a celebrated icon of Australian design. Its renowned sound became part of an independent movement for social change, and the audio tactile p…
ALEXANDRA SPENCE – STELLAR NULLIUS
Object No. 97/254/1
Alexandra Spence’s work explores earth’s material relationship with space via satellite disposal and debris, and the uncanny historic connections between electronic music and spac…
DAKOTA FEIRER – THE MORAL FRONTIER
Object No. 88/394-1
The Moral Frontier is a mosaic of thoughts, yarns and poetic reflections on the history of the Native Police, particularly the Native Mounted Police in Queensland. By reflecting o…
OSCILLATIONS TRAILER
From heartbeats to brainwaves, economic cycles to cosmic orbits, oscillations can be found everywhere. These seven stories bring Dakota Feirer, Alexandra Spence, Jinghua Qian, John Jacobs and Jane Cu…