GRAVITY, like breathing and taxes, isn’t something we are thinking about in our daily lives, but it is something we all have to learn how to fight against and live with.

The Penrith regional Gallery & Lewers Bequest is currently showing a diverse and inquisitive exhibition on one of the most misunderstood and underestimated forces known to man, gravity.

The exhibition, entitled Gravity (and Wonder), plays with the forces by pitting it against and merging it with art, physics, history and curiosity. Gallery Director, Dr Lee-anne Hall said the exhibition aims to explore the many facets of the science.

“The show has a collection that contains items from the Museum of applied arts and Sciences (the Powerhouse) and it is all about the science of gravity,” she said. “To show an alternate side of the science we’re working with 13 artists to explore the wondrous nature of gravity.”

To make the exhibition feel as inquisitive and authentic as possible, Dr Hall coordinated a team of specialists in setting up and designing the gallery space. “We worked with Powerhouse exhibition designers, graphic designers, conservators and registerers so it was a great opportunity for us, as a regional gallery, to access the wonderful collection and creative abilities of the Powerhouse,” she said.

Across the showcase of physics and art is a visual media presentation of a weather balloon rising into the heavens only to explode and fall back to earth. there are ancient astrological surveying and measuring equipment, which would have been used to calculate and measure some of the first, primitive notions of gravity.

One piece made especially for the exhibition is from an australian artist, Sandra Selig, with her piece Behind the Great Mirror. She uses sewing thread weaved across a wall to convey the multi-dimensions of space and time.

One of the most noteworthy pieces is another video piece by Japanese artist, Hiraki Sawa. He has used toy aeroplanes and flown them around his apartment. It’s both fun and magical to watch the planes take off from his bedroom floor and fly around the house, through the hallways and around the kitchen.

Gravity (and Wonder) is open for free at the Penrith regional Gallery and Lewers Bequest until November 27.