German Museum's Pinball Exhibit

Pinball News Website·article·analyzed·May 5, 2015

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.013

TL;DR

Pacific Pinball Museum creates Ausgeflippt exhibition in Germany showcasing pinball history and science.

Summary

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

Pacific Pinball Museum created several 'Visible Pinball' clear machines (electromechanical and early solid-state versions) for the Exploratorium
high confidence · Michael Schiess created pieces for the Exploratorium; two Visible Pinballs form the centerpiece of the Ausgeflippt exhibition
The exhibition features ten large murals depicting classic electromechanical backglasses created by Dan Fontes, Ed Cassel, Eric Kos, and d'Arci Bruno
high confidence · Explicitly listed as popular and visible exhibits at PPM that traveled to Germany
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
high confidence · Stated in exhibition contents description
Galactic Dimension is a six-foot tall pinball machine created by artist Niklas Roy for the exhibition
high confidence · 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

Pacific Pinball MuseumorganizationPhaeno MuseumorganizationMichael SchiesspersonMichel JungepersonNiklas RoypersonDan FontespersonEd CasselpersonEric Kospersond'Arci BrunopersonLarry ZartarianpersonMelissa Harmonperson

Signals

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community_signal: Pacific Pinball Museum actively supporting international cultural partnerships and educational exhibitions, demonstrating commitment to pinball history preservation and STEM education
high · PPM provided extensive resources, machines, artwork, and expertise for the Phaeno collaboration; Michael Schiess created educational Visible Pinball exhibits
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event_signal: Major international pinball exhibition opening in Germany, representing significant cultural recognition of pinball as art and science
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

Topics

Museum exhibitions and pinball historyprimaryEducational pinball displays and STEM integrationprimaryInternational collaboration between institutionsprimaryPinball art and designsecondaryElectromechanical vs. solid-state pinball technologysecondary

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

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

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