Installation view of Useless Machines Luxembourg + Co., New York. Photo: Ronald Amstutz.
In April 2026 Luxembourg + Co., New York, will open Useless Machines, an exhibition focusing on the pivotal role of motorised technologies within 20th century art, from largescale industrial machines, through weapons, domestic appliances, toys, and hypothetical inventions.
Exploring works that adopt technological mechanisms (or their appearance) as their mode of operation, the exhibition questions how art continuously challenges the conception of technology as a pragmatic and goal-oriented tool. The display focuses primarily on works created during the post-war decades from the late 1950s throughout the 1970s, with a few recent works by contemporary artists.
Arranged across three spaces, Gallery 1 unfolds showcases works by Peter Fischli, John Giorno, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Sigmar Polke, Man Ray, and Jean Tinguely. Gallery 2 is dedicated exclusively to Pino Pascali’s Armi (weapon) sculptures of 1965–6, a group of life-like sculptures made from scrap materials to resemble war machines. Finally, Gallery 3 presents a photographic installation by contemporary artist Sara Cwynar, exploring ways in which mechanical technologies and their aesthetics have now been absorbed by digital ones in the name of retro fashions.