# German Museum's Pinball Exhibit **Source:** Pinball News Website **Type:** article **Published:** 2015-05-05 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/germanymuseum.html --- ## Analysis The Pacific Pinball Museum collaborated with Germany's Phaeno science museum in Wolfsburg to create 'Ausgeflippt' (Flipped-Out), a comprehensive pinball exhibition opening May 14, 2015. The exhibit combines classic electromechanical and early solid-state machines, backglass murals, and bespoke kinetic sculptures—including artist Niklas Roy's six-foot Galactic Dimension machine—to demonstrate the art and science of pinball. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Pacific Pinball Museum created several 'Visible Pinball' clear machines (electromechanical and early solid-state versions) for the Exploratorium — _Michael Schiess created pieces for the Exploratorium; two Visible Pinballs form the centerpiece of the Ausgeflippt exhibition_ - [HIGH] The exhibition features ten large murals depicting classic electromechanical backglasses created by Dan Fontes, Ed Cassel, Eric Kos, and d'Arci Bruno — _Explicitly listed as popular and visible exhibits at PPM that traveled to Germany_ - [HIGH] Twenty electromechanical pinball machines from the Pacific Pinball Museum were shipped to the exhibition, supplemented by machines from Larry Zartarian and Melissa Harmon's collections — _Stated in exhibition contents description_ - [HIGH] Galactic Dimension is a six-foot tall pinball machine created by artist Niklas Roy for the exhibition — _Explicitly described with photo and Arduino control system details_ ### Notable Quotes > "the exhibition showcases the art and science of pinball using a combination of classic machines, huge artwork murals, and bespoke exhibits to demonstrate how pinball and science combine and complement each other" > — **Article**, n/a > _Core mission statement of the Ausgeflippt exhibition_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Pacific Pinball Museum | organization | Bay Area museum in Alameda, California; collaborated with Phaeno to create Ausgeflippt exhibition; provided machines, murals, and expertise | | Phaeno Museum | organization | Science museum in Wolfsburg, Germany; hosted the Ausgeflippt pinball exhibition May 14 - September 2, 2015 | | Michael Schiess | person | Pacific Pinball Museum representative; created Visible Pinball exhibits; coordinated exhibition details and video documentation | | Michel Junge | person | Executive Director of Phaeno Museum; initiated collaboration after visiting Bay Area and PPM | | Niklas Roy | person | Artist who created Galactic Dimension, a six-foot tall custom pinball machine for the exhibition, using Arduino control | | Dan Fontes | person | Artist who created backglass murals for PPM exhibit | | Ed Cassel | person | Artist who created backglass murals for PPM exhibit | | Eric Kos | person | Artist who created backglass murals for PPM exhibit | | d'Arci Bruno | person | Artist who created backglass murals for PPM exhibit | | Larry Zartarian | person | Private collector who contributed pinball machines to the Ausgeflippt exhibition | | Melissa Harmon | person | Private collector who contributed pinball machines to the Ausgeflippt exhibition | | San Francisco Exploratorium | organization | Science museum that housed Michael Schiess's Visible Pinball educational exhibits | | Ausgeflippt | event | Pinball and science exhibition at Phaeno Museum in Wolfsburg, Germany; ran May 14 - September 2, 2015 | | Visible Pinball | product | Clear pinball machines (electromechanical Surf Champ and early solid-state versions) created by Michael Schiess to demonstrate scientific principles | | Galactic Dimension | product | Six-foot tall custom pinball machine art installation by Niklas Roy; uses Arduino for mechanism control | ### Topics - **Primary:** Museum exhibitions and pinball history, Educational pinball displays and STEM integration, International collaboration between institutions - **Secondary:** Pinball art and design, Electromechanical vs. solid-state pinball technology ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Enthusiastic coverage of a significant collaborative cultural event; celebratory tone about bringing pinball history and science together in an international exhibition ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Pacific Pinball Museum actively supporting international cultural partnerships and educational exhibitions, demonstrating commitment to pinball history preservation and STEM education (confidence: high) — PPM provided extensive resources, machines, artwork, and expertise for the Phaeno collaboration; Michael Schiess created educational Visible Pinball exhibits - **[event_signal]** Major international pinball exhibition opening in Germany, representing significant cultural recognition of pinball as art and science (confidence: high) — Ausgeflippt exhibition at Phaeno Museum (major German science museum) running May 14 - September 2, 2015; comprehensive display of 20+ machines, murals, and custom art installations --- ## Transcript Date: 5th May 2015, updated 4th June, 2015 In just over a week's time, a brand new exhibit created in collaboration with the Pacific Pinball Museum opens at the Phaeno museum in Wolfsburg near Hannover in Germany. Entitled Ausgeflippt (Flipped-Out), the exhibition showcases the art and science of pinball using a combination of classic machines, huge artwork murals, and bespoke exhibits to demonstrate how pinball and science combine and complement each other. Ausgeflippt at the Phaeno in Wolfsburg The exhibition opens on 14th May, 2015, but the story of its creation stretches back to last year when the Phaeno's Executive Director, Michel Junge, paid a visit to the Bay Area and San Francisco's Exploratorium. The Pacific Pinball Museum's Michael Schiess has created several pieces for the Exploratorium, including the Visible Pinball - a clear Surf Champ electromechanical pinball showing how all the mechanisms interact with the ball to demonstrate a number of scientific principles. Two of these will form the centrepiece of the exhibition - one electromechanical and one early solid-state, demonstrating the how the game changed with the introduction of electronics. Junge then visited Michael at the Pacific Pinball Museum (PPM) in Alameda and initial talks began about creating a suitable exhibition for the Phaeno. The fruits of those discussions can be enjoyed in Germany later this month. The Galton Pinball The Galton Pinball demonstrates Sir Francis Galton's central limit theorem Some of the most popular and highly visible exhibits at the PPM are the large murals depicting classic electromechanical backglasses. Ten of these created by artists Dan Fontes, Ed Cassel, Eric Kos and d'Arci Bruno have made the journey across the Atlantic. They are joined by twenty electromechanical pinball machines from the PPM's extensive stock, and several more from the personal collections of Larry Zartarian and Melissa Harmon. EM machines from the PPE's collection The mix of pinballs is further bolstered by machines from a local private collector which include modern classics The Addams Family, Terminator 2 and Indiana Hilton Jones. Other exhibits include the Pinbowl Chaos Generator, an electromechanical music box and more bespoke kinetic sculptures. The electromechanical music box The Bumper Box Finally, Galactic Dimension, a super-sized six-foot tall pinball machine, has been created by artist Niklas Roy. Development of Galactic Dimension (picture: Niklas Roy) You can see more about the development of Galactic Dimension on Niklas's Google+ page. The Ausgeflippt exhibition runs from May 14th until 2nd September. The Phaeno is open Tuesday to Sunday inclusive, while entry costs €12.50 for adults ($13.94/£9.22), €8.00 for kids, with discounts for families or groups. For more details, visit the museum's website at phaeno.de. UPDATE Niklas Roy has now published the full story of his Galactic Dimension exhibit on his website. The article includes a look at the prototypes used in development and explains about how an Arduino is used to control the various mechanisms. You can also download high resolution pictures and the Arduino code. Galactic Dimension (picture: Niklas Roy) In addition, Pacific Pinball Museum's Michael Schiess made this video walk-through of the exhibition. Back to the News page Like this page? Share it with your Facebook friends: Back to the front page _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 8e34d526-74aa-4d1a-ab41-529a1007feda*