06/17/2026
The Flip: Chicago’s Playable Pinball Museum is now open to the public! ☄️✨
Step into the evolution of fun through pinball going from a Bagatelle table from the 1800s, to electro-mechanical Chicago-made machines of the 1940s, iconic collaborations like Ed Paschke’s 1980s pinball, and meet Push-On: The Prophets of the Extra-Life by Alonso Galue.
This functional pinball altar and mural installation dives into themes of continuation, possibility, and existing between forces beyond our control. In this almost meditative game, the steel ball becomes a metaphor for the human journey. Surrounding elements feature condors, snakes, and nature spirits; the board is engraved with cloud shapes, offering a bird’s-eye view of an ancient world.
The figures draw inspiration from sculptures in the collections of (Bogotá) and Museo Arqueológico de Mérida (Venezuela).
Condors a recurring motif represent the sacred bird connecting gods and humans. El Mohan, the religious leader of native Andean Venezuelans, would transform into a condor to receive divine messages and bring them back to the people.
Now transformed into a living altar, Push-On connects the gods we carry with the new worlds that received us. It’s a powerful example of union and the birth of new syncretisms in our communities.
The machine links directly to a mural through an outlet hole, as if drawing energy from a painted landscape where an ancient snake, older than language, shapes mountains, creates rivers, and builds life.
Visitors stand for a moment in the space between the ancient, the mechanical, nature, and urbanity.
Museum Hours:
Monday – Saturday: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Sunday: 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Private tours by appointment only
📍 – Lower Level, 108 N State St #15, Chicago, IL 60602
Come experience Push-On and play through history! 🔥
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Push-On is possible thanks to the generous support of the
AlonsoGalue PinballMuseum AndeanSyncretism
