Inspiring feat of clay at Scienceworks

AS it enters its third decade, Scienceworks celebrates an inventive exhibition with the help of two familiar faces.

Wallace & Gromit

IN THE weird and wonderful world of Wallace & Gromit only two things really matter: the power of a great idea and having fun.

These concepts combine vibrantly in Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention, the sprawling new larger-than-life, hands-on exhibition at Scienceworks.

Wallace, the ever-optimistic animated inventor, and his hyper-intelligent dog Gromit plan to spark creativity and laughter as people enter the show through an impressive, life-size recreation of their cosy home at 62 West Wallaby St.

The world-famous claymation duo were the stars of three short films The Wrong Trousers (1993), A Grand Day Out (1989) and A Close Shave (1995) and the Oscar-winning animated feature The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).

They also hosted a six-part TV series in 2010 that gives the exhibition its name.

As well as marvelling at film sets familiar to fans including an eye-popping full-scale replica of Wallace's bizarre remote-control device, the Tellyscope II visitors can engage in activities designed to spark the imagination.

As well as a clay modelling station where children are invited to send their invention ideas to Wallace, there is a Karaoke Disco Shower, where people can sing while friends and family watch and make fun of them on a video monitor.

Wallace & Gromit

On the face of it, Wallace does not seem like a good role model for kids, admits Wallace & Gromit creative director Merlin Crossingham, who also directed the World of Invention TV series.

"If you want to take Wallace as inspiration as an inventor, he's clearly the wrong guy. He makes a very simple idea very complicated, and that's where his humour comes from. He will always use a sledge hammer to crack a nut."

Far more important, he believes, is how the exhibition celebrates Wallace's ceaselessly inventive can-do spirit.

"He thinks outside the box and he plays with his imagination; that's where we hope people get some inspiration."

With so many kids spending so much time staring at plasma slabs, laptops, phones and other digital devices, Crossingham adds that the show's tactile nature "offers a very healthy balance to screen-based culture".

The exhibition also features a gaggle of great Australian inventions and innovations, including the flight recorder, the lightweight Victa mower, the safety-conscious ByK bike for children and the reusable KeepCup beverage mug.

This should help redress a lack of local awareness, project manager Vera Gin says.

"I don't know if, in Australia, we put enough emphasis on the amazing innovation that is coming out of here," she says.

"Kids' eyes get big when they realise that this is happening in their own country, and that they can be a part of it. Part of my role is to encourage kids to think about science as a career, so I get really excited and quite nerdy about it."

Wallace & Gromit

The exhibition also spotlights the very important, if admittedly bland, matter of intellectual property protection, such as patents, trade marks, registered designs and copyright.

For Melbourne's Abigail Forsyth, who created the KeepCup with her brother Jamie, it's a crucial issue about which "I don't think people have a sufficient understanding".

Having acted against cheap knock-offs, she insists protection is paramount.

"We're launching KeepCup 2, probably in February next year, and we are making sure there are some strong patentable considerations in that design to make it harder for people to copy."

The Wallace & Gromit exhibition is a major coup for Scienceworks. After touring Britain for three years, it was brought here in collaboration with Sydney's Powerhouse Museum and principal sponsor IP Australia.

"It is pioneering because it's the first time we've brought anything from the UK," says Scienceworks manager Genevieve Fahey.

Wallace and Gromit

For the 2009 Star Wars exhibition, Scienceworks partnered with Powerhouse, which, says Fahey, "did a lot of the initiation".

This time around "we've taken the lead; this is the first time that we've done it, so it proves that not only is Scienceworks capable of hosting international exhibitions, it's also capable of organising the whole thing, facilitating it and bringing it into Australia."

The delighted Crossingham agrees: "With Scienceworks we've landed on our feet, really."

The exhibition ticked all the right boxes: it was fully interactive, family-friendly and fun though, Fahey stresses, "not just fun for fun's sake; it's fun because it is about innovation, science and technology".

Established in 1992 and designed for 250,000 visitors per year, Scienceworks expects 460,000 visitors this year.

And having just enjoyed its biggest January and Anzac Day on record, the adjacent vacant land left by the demolition of the old ACI building is giving Fahey ideas about expansion.

"We have big aspirations!" she says, beaming.

Wallace would be proud.

- Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention - Scienceworks, Melbourne, until November 11