About Pauline Farrar: Celebrity Robots

For one summer only!

Hotfoot it down to MAC with friends and family this summer to meet a unique line-up of A-List 'celebrities' who'll be popping up throughout MAC's building.

From national treasures to international rockstars, discover a stellar cast of fan favourites as you've never seen them before...featuring Harry Styles, David Attenborough, Ozzy Osbourne, Freddie Mercury, Taylor Swift AND MORE!

Join the hunt and claim a prize

Pick up our free celebrity robot hunt map from our Welcome Desk when you arrive at MAC. Track down the robots listed and complete our quiz to claim a unique prize*.

*subject to availability

Map with illustrations of celebrity robots
Design and illustrations by Kieran Naughton

This installation is generously supported by Arts Council England and players of People's Postcode Lottery.


About the Celebrity Robots

After artist Pauline Farrar inherited her mother’s possessions, she kept or donated many items but didn’t want to send anything to landfill. The robots were born after she started seeing faces in old clocks and limbs in discarded kitchen objects and reimagined them into new artworks.

Pauline spent a year sourcing vintage metal parts mainly manufactured right here in Birmingham. She collected items from the Triumph Birmingham West motorcycle workshops in Dudley Road, to W T French & Son to garden sprayers of Tindal Street, Ladywood. Each part was chosen for its association to the city including a 1953 rocket ride from a fairground at Solihull.

She says that in many ways, the robots have come home.

About Pauline Farrar

Pauline Farrar is a goldsmith turned artist. She trained in the Scottish borders as a gold and silversmith then as a gemmologist in Hatton Garden, London’s jewellery quarter.

Much of Pauline’s arts practice has been influenced by her disability - as a young woman, while on honeymoon in Thailand, she was left paralysed and is now a wheelchair user. Creativity has become an essential part of rejuvenating her life.

In 2022, Pauline’s work was featured on the Channel 4 show, Grayson’s Art Club, and later in the related exhibition at MAC. Pauline lives in Edinburgh with her husband James and their dog Rocky.


Become a robot creator with MAC's new workshops!

  1. A dancer is suspended in the air by a large rig - they wear all blue colours with their arms gracefully outstretched like they are flying.

    Highly Sprung: CastAway


    Dance
  2. Waste Paper Making with Artist Danielle Phelps


    Family
  3. Christmas Arts Market


    Free