2016, AC motor, DC motor, found objects, LEDs, graffiti pen

Lights ON was a project created in response to the ‘100 Years of the Substation Building’ project. It involved the creation of an AC/DC converter, based on the 1916 “lossy” style of rotary converter originally housed and used in Newport Substation, rather than contemporary conversion methods. This converter was constructed out of contemporary found objects and hard rubbish collected from the Melbourne area. The AC motor reverse powered a DC motor by driving its shaft, thus using the DC motor as a generator. This turned on a series of LED lights within a found object assemblage, to demonstrate DC power (as LEDs can only be used with DC power).

A 1916 schematic drawing of this AC/DC conversion was drawn on one of the walls with graffiti pen, in conversation with the Lights ON assemblage work, and also with the history of graffiti in the building itself, during the time it was used as a shelter for the homeless.