The Elaine and Jim Wolfensohn gift
Travelling exhibitions | Introduction | Blue case | Red case | Yellow case | Melbourne cup
Blue Case: Technology
Brain coral
Brain coral focuses on the incredible complexity of the human brain and the idea that technology is driven by the human sense of enquiry. The form of the sculpture was inspired by a particular kind of coral structure, commonly referred to as brain coral.
Lionel Bawden Brain coral 2003 coloured Staedtler pencils, araldite, Incralac National Gallery of Australia
Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart was made to cheer up the artist's mother by appealing to her good sense of humour after she had open-heart bypass surgery. The box, which opens from the back, has left and right ventricle compartments for her blood pressure and cholesterol tablets. The title of the pillbox contemplates the sacredness of all aspects of life and seeks to remind us that the physical self is an integral part of our human spirit.
Matt Harding Sacred Heart 1999 purpleheart wood National Gallery of Australia
Palmlight #2
'This work was part of a series which explored the idea of small scale portable light objects: lights which fit in the palm of your hand. The objects were designed to be used in the hand like a torch, or be placed on a table, providing illumination similar to that of a tea light candle.
Cinnamon Lee Palmlight #2 2000 hand-sized battery-powered light National Gallery of Australia
Lizard grinder
The work was made after a six-month stay in India. It was from the vantage point of being in South India that the artist could see the most valuable parts of Australia. With the Lizard grinder he tried to bring together the sense of a harsh landscape through the depiction of the creatures that exist with it: the colours, the angles, and the robustness of the inland lizards.
Karl Lawrence Millard Lizard grinder 2000 brass, bronze, copper, sterling silver, money metal, Peugeot mechanism, stainless steel screws National Gallery of Australia
Double bowl
Since 1992 Gilbert Riedelbach has combined digital technologies with traditional silver smithing techniques, taking advantage of computers at the concept, making and production stage. Designing takes place in the virtual workshop of the computer, while the actual production is handed over to a machine based process, in this case Rapid Prototyping.
Gilbert Riedelbauch Double bowl 2000 nylon, rapid prototyping from a mathematical equation National Gallery of Australia
Hair chairs
To create the Hair chairs, Emily O'Brien searched through old furniture catalogues and collected a wide range of images of ordinary and exotic household items. By working with familiar experiences and imagery, the artist creates objects that people can easily connect with.
Emily O'Brien Hair chairs 2004, anodised aluminium, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra