The final leg of my journey took me on a visit to The Mad Museum in Stratford upon Avon.
The Mad Museum has been open since 2012 and has over 80 exhibits on display at any one time, from small delights to large wall installations. Everywhere you turn there are movements, sounds, lights produced through a wide variety of mechanical inventiveness.
Automata collections are so interesting because they bring together such a wide range of makers. Those who come principally from the artistic route and use simple mechanics to enhance a sculptural piece, or those who come more from the mechanical side, and build aesthetics through intricate movement. And of course a whole range in-between.
Mad Museum is the largest display of permanent automata and kinetic sculpture in the UK and highly recommended for their clear displays and range of pieces on display. From a machine that perpetually writes then erases in the sand with hypnotic regularity, to one that claps back at you when you clap
They cater really well for education and children who can wow at the effects as they push a button. But it is also equally interesting for adults who have an interest in automata arts, and you can easily spend a few hours or a day there looking at the mechanisms and all the different movements produced. It gave me a lot of food for thought and confirmed my thoughts on where I want to take my sculptural work in the future, in that beautiful effects can be created from simple mechanics to enhance a piece. I definitely come from the artistic rather than engineering side of the spectrum, but moving on I can see a way forward to make my own sculptural pieces, but with automata enhancement.
https://themadmuseum.co.uk/
