Watch: Beastly goings on at Shrewsbury museum
A new exhibition featuring unique and bizarre mechanical sculptures created by acclaimed kinetic sculptor Johnny White has opened at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery.
Beastly Machines opened on Monday and will run for eight weeks, until 12 July. Johnny's sculptures are influenced by current affairs, media-stories, plays on words and comic artists such as Gary Larson and Steve Bell. They are handmade in his workshop in Derbyshire, often using found or salvaged objects and junk.
Initially he used scrap components due to financial constraints but now he uses them for visual and ecological reasons too.
Highlights of the show include a six-metre-long whale which springs into life at the push of a button, two canoodling gnus afloat in a bright blue canoe, and Rover the hound who moves in and out of his kennel by moving a lever back and forth.
Johnny's creations are humorous, imaginative, irreverent and sometimes very noisy and 'Beastly Machines' is an exhibition that will capture the imagination of visitors of all ages. Tina Woodward, Shropshire Council's deputy Cabinet member for visitor economy, said: "We are very excited to be hosting Johnny White's 'Beastly Machines' at the Museum and Art Gallery.
"He has created some unique interactive sculptures that will engage people of all ages. Johnny's creations are extremely fun and quirky, but they also convey a more serious message about what can truly be achieved from recycling and reusing waste materials."
'Beastly Machines' was made possible by a National Lottery Grant.
