MECHANICAL MARVELS

Closing soon: Mechanical gizmos seem all the more fascinating in our high-tech era, when virtually everything comes with digital controls. Enter Twin Cities artist Danny Saathoff and his elegant mechanical contraptions. He fashions his assemblage sculptures from wires and springs, rusty toy parts, bits of wood, knobs and levers, children's alphabet blocks, picture frames, antique pool hall darts, pachinko balls and other intriguing flotsam. Artfully combined with bits of paintings, sketches and graphic devices (stripes, Pop art letters), the wall-hung sculptures may carry a whiff of seascape, road-race or patriotic fervor, but they're always playfully ambiguous. Best of all, they have moving parts to spin, crank, pluck and fiddle with. Designed for adults, pieces like "Start to Finish," shown here, will liberate the inner child in many a viewer. (Ends Jan. 11, free. Gallery 360, 3011 W. 50th St., Mpls. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon-Wed. & Fri.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thu.; noon-5 p.m. Sun. 612-925-2400 or Gallery360mpls.com.)

MARY ABBE