Conrad Shawcross uses diverse materials and mediums to create ambitious structural and mechanical installations informed by geometry, philosophy, physics, and metaphysics. Feigning usefulness and theoretical rigor, Shawcross’s enigmatic machine-like installations, rich with scientific references, are filled with paradox, absurdity, and whimsy. In 2011, Shawcross was an artist-in-residence at the Science Museum in London where he created Protomodel, an installation of five projects displayed alongside the museum’s scientific exhibits that paid homage to the museum's mathematics section on his practice, variously referencing models, functions, and instruments.