Rube Goldberg's Ghost: Confounding Design

Exhibit reception Thursday, Feb 28, 5-7pm. Show through May 4. The comical machines of American cartoonist and inventor Reuben Garrett Lucius “Rube” Goldberg were never intended to be built and used. His cartoon schematics of impossibly complicated low-tech machines and designs poked fun at both bureaucratic systems and the laborious machinations required to traverse them. While Rube Goldberg took a light-hearted and humorous approach to public concerns with a wink and a nod, this show presents contemporary artworks that offer plausible deniability toward some of society's current obsessions, ills and issues. Rube Goldberg’s complicated contraptions and their absurdist answers to real problems are at the heart of this exhibition. Participating Artists: Matthew L. Aron, Juan Angel Chavez, Karen Bovinich, Brian Dettmer, Fischli & Weiss, Conrad Freiburg, Joan Giroux, Joanne Greenbaum, Joseph Herscher, Taylor Hokanson, Industry of the Ordinary, Heidi Kumao, Anthony Heinz May, Betsy Odom, Erik Peterson, Mark Porter, Michael Thompson and Graem Whyte. Curated by Elizabeth Burke-Dain Glass Curtain Gallery 1104 S. Wabash Ave, First Floor Chicago, Il 60605 Gallery hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9am - 5pm, Thursday 9am -7pm, Saturday Noon - 5pm, Closed on Sunday For more information contact mporter@colum.edu or call.

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