Shaun Tan’s new collaboration with the Powerhouse Museum is the fictional tale of a strikingly original but spectacularly unsuccessful inventor: Henry A. Mintox.

Shaun’s whimsical stories of Mintox’s failed inventions are inspired by strange and largely obscure objects from the Powerhouse Museum collection. An automatic tea-maker, sheep clippers and an early hearing aid are among the artefacts re-imagined by the award-winning author and illustrator.

The Oopsatoreum explores the vast cemetery of achievement that lies behind every enduring innovation. It questions many assumptions we might have about ingenuity.What does it mean to be truly original? Should creativity be measured only by success? Or is it really the thought that counts … no matter how impractical?

Book
“Henry Mintox loved automation almost as much as his own family, who nevertheless had to deal with the constant threat of robot counterparts. He envisaged a world in which almost every aspect of life was mechanically streamlined, from the changing of nappies to the delivery of bedtime prayers, saving precious minutes that could then be devoted to oiling and polishing each device.”

A book for anyone who has ever made a mistake, The Oopsatoreum features original drawings by Shaun Tan along with beautifully photographed objects from the Powerhouse Museum collection.

76 pages, hardback, 210 x 180 mm
Available now to buy online

Exhibition
Opening in 2013, The Oopsatoreum exhibition brings to life the world of Henry Mintox. A mechanical dog and a prototype laptop messenger are some of the strange devices featured in the exhibition. Also on show are Henry’s personal items, including the 1927 Austin Tourer that he planned to drive to Tasmania and the fat suit he wore to impress his audience at a lecture in the midst of the Great Depression.

Inspired by Shaun’s imaginative approach to Museum objects? Then you can write your own stories and display them in the gallery.

About Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and now works as an artist, author and filmmaker in Melbourne. Books such as The Rabbits, The Red Tree, Tales From Outer Suburbia and the acclaimed wordless novel The Arrival have been widely translated and enjoyed by readers of all ages. Shaun has also worked as a theatre designer and feature film concept artist. He wrote and directed the 2011 Academy Award winning animated short film, The Lost Thing. In 2011 he received the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in Sweden for his body of work.

Read an interview with Shaun Tan