Mikey Mosher and Christian Gutierrez, “Play Study 01,” 2024, Free Range Albany Park/Photo: Mikey Mosher

I’m told the impetus for “Manual of Instructions” was finding an old Erector set (a line of build-it-yourself toys similar to Lego or K’nex) in a wooden box purchased off Facebook Marketplace. A manual for building some basic shapes that came with the set inspired the duo of Mikey Mosher and Christian Gutierrez to work collaboratively on a series of “Play Studies” poking at the idea of function and ingenuity.

Mikey Mosher and Christian Gutierrez, “Play Study 02” 2024, Free Range Albany Park/Photo: Mikey Mosher

The resulting assemblages on display at Free Range Albany Park are fantastically absurd but purposefully constructed. Each artwork encapsulates a spirit of creative experimentation, with idiosyncratic design that vacillates between neatly finished and rudimentary assembly. “Play Study 02,” which was made by mounting components to the wooden box in which the Erector set manual was found, contains a light bulb with a pull chain that punches straight through the bottom of its wooden enclosure. It also houses a hidden speaker which amplifies the ticking of a clock mounted on the wall. One of the conceptual concerns that links artworks in “Manual of Instructions” is an awareness of time passing: In “Play Study 01,” a cinder block resting on the ground anchors a suspended stool that sticks out horizontally from one of the gallery walls via an orange cord strung through a system of hooks and pulleys. A clock with a pinwheel made from parts of the aforementioned erector set instead of clock hands is mounted to the “seat” of the stool, and a battery-operated motor velcroed to the underside of the stool spins the pinwheel around at a frantic speed. The artwork exudes a feeling of rushing about or being pressed by deadlines, both in its amusing take on representing a clock and in its MacGyvered construction.

Mikey Mosher and Christian Gutierrez, “Play Study 03,” 2024, Free Range Albany Park/Photo: Mikey Mosher

In “Play Study 04” a pump turns on and off at regular intervals to inflate a yellow smiley-face balloon, and a small metal pole attached to a square of painted wood provides just enough weight to slowly deflate it. In a moment of serendipity, the placement of the wooden block and metal pole also completes the balloon’s otherwise noseless face. Sporadic low noise from the pump inflating the balloon created rhythmic interruptions in conversations during the exhibition opening, which lent itself well to the general quirkiness of the show’s atmosphere. There is also something perversely satisfying about watching the balloon slowly collapse under the weight of the block placed on top of it. Simply calling this sculpture absurd doesn’t quite sit right; it feels like a machine built to exemplify a customer-service smile slowly becoming completely hollow.

Mikey Mosher and Christian Gutierrez, “Play Study 04,” 2024, Free Range Albany Park/Photo: Mikey Mosher

This is a show that could have easily felt haphazard and gimmicky, but subtle design elements connect the artworks together in ways that feel cleanly integrated into the white walls and wood-patterned floors of the gallery space. Raw materials like cinderblocks and unfinished wood are formally nested into place with clean lines, neatly attached hardware, and sharply applied blocks of white paint. Small details like vinyl decals of imagery from the Erector set manual applied to the gallery’s large front windows lend an air of professionalism to the exhibition, which helps it evade being read as sarcastic or ironic. While “Manual of Instructions” certainly injects the viewer with a healthy dose of absurdity, it also profoundly asserts that our limitations are often more fluid than expected.

“Manual of Instructions” by Christian Gutierrez and Mikey Mosher is on view at Free Range Albany Park, 3257 West Lawrence, through October 5.