Exquisite Contraption is a collaboratively conceived and constructed machine that spans Flux Factory’s building to facilitate a weekly “family photograph.” Over the next year, the Flux community will exist inside the machine, activating it at the beginning of weekly Monday meetings to set into motion a series of automated steps that move throughout the building to announce, instruct, prepare, and photograph those gathered. At the end of its life, Exquisite Contraption will have produced a year-long record of residents and guests who have gathered inside the machine.

Exquisite Contraption is both an interactive, building-wide engineering spectacle and a long-term experiment in creating a community ritual. The work will evolve over time as residents elaborate on the weekly tradition, respond to mechanical failures, and integrate (or not) the machine into their daily lives. Since Exquisite Contraption can be activated at any time, it will be available to the public throughout its year-long run by appointment and during select public events.