‘Contraptions’ considers how artists re-evaluate machines and devices for play, experimentation and exploration of ideas. Many artists are inspired by the mechanical qualities of contraptions and the nature of their often-handmade forms.

Humour, whimsy and the absurd runs throughout many of these works. Artists such as Stuart Ringholt, Geoff Kleem and Erwin Wurm highlight playfulness as a way to question our expectations of what art can be, deliberately upending the original purpose of a device so they are seen anew.

Lin Onus’s large sculpture cleverly celebrates the work of Aboriginal inventor, author and activist David Unaipon and – alongside other works such as Peter Fischli and David Weiss’s video Der lauf der dinge (The way things go) 1987 – acknowledges the essential role of experimentation in both scientific investigation and artmaking.

Many of the works on display examine the body and its relationship with machines. Rebecca Horn’s performance videos employ contraptions to restrict or expand the body’s physical capacity, while Liam O’Brien and Trevor Nickolls’s works explore technological devices and their potential to overwhelm our everyday.

Artists Gemma Smith, Jacques Yvaral and Margaret Worth build devices to explore the qualities of colour, light and form, expanding the boundaries of painting, while Rebecca Baumann and Robert Klippel’s use of found mechanical elements in their sculptures create unexpected encounters within the gallery space.
 

'Contraptions' is on display from October 2025 to February 2026 in Gallery 2.1, GOMA. To make the most of your visit, check the exhibition dates, get information on getting here and parking, and find out about Gallery accessibility.