Exciting new exhibit is unveiled by The MAD Museum!

A brand-new moving sculpture inside an old red refurbished telephone box will be unveiled by The MAD (Mechanical Art and Design) Museum in Stratford-upon-Avon on Friday 10 January. The Museum purchased the telephone box which is located on Henley Street and commissioned one of their favourite resident artists, Pascal Bettex, to create the sculpture inside the box. 

The theme of the sculpture is a tribute to William Shakespeare and features several objects relating to the Bard and his plays. Although the Museum own the phone box after it was decommissioned by BT, it must remain in place in Henley Street. The revamping of the telephone box follows a recent trend of converting de-commissioned telephone boxes for other uses such as coffee shops, libraries, art museums, cake shops and information centres. More than 5,800 payphones have been adopted by communities since 2008.

Pascal, a kinetic artist from Switzerland, was tasked with producing a machine which embodies the best of the MAD Museum and Stratford-upon-Avon – a brilliant mix of historical acclaim and forward-thinking inventiveness.  Pascal, who has already created three kinetic pieces of moving art at The MAD Museum, has spent the last two months in his homeland designing and building the kinetic artwork. On Wednesday 8 January he will travel to Stratford-upon-Avon with the finished work and spend two days installing it directly into the phone box.

Iain Simmons, Manager at The MAD Museum said “Since we purchased the telephone box a few months ago, we have been racking our brains trying to think what we could do with this iconic British symbol. We hold Pascal in such high esteem that we decided he was the only choice for creating this fascinating moving masterpiece and we look forward to unveiling the sculpture where it will be on display 24/7 for the public to view”.

The MAD Museum is the only permanent museum of its kind in the UK which showcases over 90 pieces of kinetic art and automata. Visitors can watch and interact with mind-boggling mechanical creations such as flying mechanical birds, clever clocks & witty characters, plus build marble runs and learn some engineering and physics principals along the way.  

The pieces on display have been sourced from creators from all around the world. Voted the ‘Best Museum in Warwickshire’ on Trip Advisor, families are encouraged to press buttons, decipher mind-boggling design and become inspired. The MAD Museum also supports the STEAM Subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths. Catering to all age groups, MAD encourages learners to interact, examine and be inspired by the inventions.

The Museum is open Monday – Friday from 10:30am – 4:30pm and at weekends/holidays from 10am – 5:30pm. To find out more information about The MAD Museum please visit www.themadmuseum.co.uk.