Machine for Applauding Art

Continuing on this week with blips from the exhibition, this is George Wyllie's Machine for Applauding Art.

It's another favourite with the pupils. There is actually a mechanism which when turned makes all the pairs of hands actually applaud, and secured by lock and chain as part of it, as an example so to speak, is the Mona Lisa.

George Wyllie thought it a shame that musicians and actors see the audience reaction to their work when the audience applauds it, but the artist... well, art is rarely applauded, and reactions can be a little staid, to say the least.

With youngsters, their reactions tend to be more straightforward. One of them described this piece as "the most amazing machine ever", and there's not a microchip in sight!

The pupils have even shared the joke with visiting politicians....