How a craft shop in 1970s Falmouth sparked a movement now arriving in Aberdeen
Most art exhibitions come with an implied rule: look, don’t touch. This one is different. From Saturday, Aberdeen Art Gallery is hosting Making Waves: Amazing Machines from Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, and the invitation is to push buttons and turn cranks. That’s the whole point.
Automata have existed in various forms for thousands of years, but the contemporary movement behind these works began somewhere specific: a craft shop in Falmouth in the late 1970s, run by Sue Jackson, founder of what became Cabaret Mechanical Theatre. The pieces on show are mechanical sculptures driven by gears and levers rather than electricity or software.
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Encouraging Local Makers
Jackson encouraged a small group of local makers, including Peter Markey, Paul Spooner, and Ron Fuller, to build moving sculptures for the shop. The 18th-century automata tradition was largely about simulation: mechanical birds that sang convincingly, hands that could write. This group had different priorities. Their machines don’t hide how they work. The cams, cranks, and linkages are visible, part of the piece. The mechanism is the art.
The Crafts Council eventually took the form seriously and began collecting significant examples. Jackson died in 2016. Her daughter, Sarah Alexander, now runs Cabaret Mechanical Theatre and continues to tour the work. “Cabaret Mechanical Theatre began with my mother’s belief that these makers and their extraordinary creations deserved to be seen,” she says. “I am delighted that her vision continues to give joy to new audiences.”
That continuity is a vital part of the story. The work Jackson started in a Falmouth craft shop is still finding new rooms.
Works by Paul Spooner and Ron Fuller, two of the Falmouth makers at the heart of the contemporary automata revival.
On show until October
The exhibition runs until 25 October. Children aged 12 and under get in free, and the works are built to be operated, so younger visitors can engage with them directly.
The most interesting thing about this show might be that question of visibility. These makers didn’t want you to wonder how it works. They wanted the answer to be right there in front of you, moving.
Making Waves: Amazing Machines, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Schoolhill, Aberdeen AB10 1FQ. 16 May to 25 October 2026. £10.50 / £7.50 concessions / £15 exhibition pass. Children 12 and under free.
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