Tag Archives: art

The weirdest museum I’ve ever seen

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The MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) museum in Hobart, Australia may not be the weirdest museum in all the world, but it has to be in the running. Created by billionnaire David Walsh, a math genius who made his money playing the odds, this museum has to be a much better contribution to the world than spending his billions on, well, many of the other things that other billionnaires spend their money on. And let me say right off, Huzzah Mr. Walsh!

How to describe it? First, it’s built into a cliff underneath some existing buildings, cut into the solid rock. If you’re interested in architecture, this interview is worth reading. Also, you have to take a ferry to get there, and you know it’s going to be strange the moment you walk inside.

And it gets stranger after that. Yes, there’s artwork, old and new and new-mimicking-old. There are entire installations. There’s music to experience it all by. There are jazz musicians creating new music real-time on the spot. There are artists creating paintings real-time on the spot. There’s a restaurant and a winery, too. And it’s still being built.

I’m really a little at a loss for words. Fortunately, I have pictures. So, if a picture is worth a thousand words, here goes.

I see I’ve added a number of photos of pictures on walls. This is an impression that is seriously misleading, and I must correct it. This museum is not about pictures on walls. I mean, it *is* about pictures on walls, but it’s also so much more.

White books, white pages
Room of crystals
Soft car

Is it worth a visit if you happen to be, say, anywhere in Tasmania? Yes, absolutely. But is it worth a journey? Let’s just say that Tasmania is worth the journey, and so, yes, please don’t miss this unique museum!

St. Petersburg: The Hermitage

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On June 10th, we visited the Hermitage, the world-famous art museum that was once the winter palace of the czars of Russia. We went to see the art, of course, but it was the building itself that captivated me. Nothing wrong with the art, mind you; some of it is among the most famous works of art in the world. I’m sure that books could be–and in fact have been–written about the artwork in this great collection. But in the interest of keeping up with my travels, more or less, I am limiting myself to just one blog post on the Hermitage, and for me at least, it was all about the rooms themselves. There were often crowds jostling about, but it really didn’t matter.

The Hermitage was amazing. I spent half my time happily gazing at the ceilings and walls. And now, dear Reader, you can, too. Let’s start with the staircase at the entrance (just above). Watch your step, but look around. Look up, too!

    

And this is just the beginning. Room after room, the building is as beautiful as the artwork housed within. I present below a number of rooms–walls or ceilings, together with a detail or so, because the joy of them is in both the broad view and the details.

  

The detail above is over the throne/chair.

    

Every detail is breathtaking.

  

Every room is different.

  

So . . .

  

. . . many . . .

  

. . . rooms!

  

So many more rooms to go!

  

Remember, this is a really big palace we’re talking about here!

And now back to the rooms . . .

  

Walls, ceilings, columns of precious stones; even the chandeliers are gorgeous!

    

Here’s a coffered ceiling.

  

We went through a long arcaded walkway with painted detailing . . .

        

. . . in order to get to this room . . .

. . . and then went out into a similar, but of course different, long arcaded room, this one with sculpture.

        

I leave you with one more room with a coffered ceiling, where every coffer was itself a work of art.

  

 

2,501 Migrants in Oaxaca

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They are strange. Eerie. Haunting.

Over two thousand ceramic sculptures of misshapen, forlorn people watch the plaza silently. They stand by the side of the street and watch the living people pass by. They do not interact. They are the people who are seen in the mind’s eye but who are not there.

The artist is Alejandro Santiago. According to his statement, he enlisted the participation of more than twenty-five people from his village over a period of several years to complete this work. He says these sculptures “represent the men and women who leave their villages to travel to the United States.”

The people are no longer here, but their shadows, cast in ceramic, remain.

    

One shop owner tells us that these are people who have died while trying to migrate to the US, or who have been killed by organized crime in Mexico. In Mexico, he assures us, his American customers, not in the United States.

There is something about these figures that lends credence to the idea that they represent those who have died, though the artist’s statement doesn’t say so. Many of the statues show corpses on their backs.

They line the street outside the grills of the shop and restaurant windows. Silently, they watch us, who are still here.

 

Cruise Day 13 (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico): Art

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It’s hard to go to Puerto Vallarta without thinking about art. The town is full of art. For example, you can find shops that sell objects of art still being made according to ancient tribal techniques. These decorative items are made of beads pressed into beeswax on paper mache.

tribal objects in shop

You can also find strictly made-for-tourists art for sale at reasonable prices on the way back to the ship. This seriously talented young man creates detailed scenes entirely by fingerpainting! I wonder what he was like back in kindergarten.

small IMG_3353 fingerpainter

One thing my mother likes in Puerto Vallarta is the formal sculpture along the beach. She made sure that I photographed some of them. (Hi Mom! Here are some pictures for you!)

small IMG_3319 art1

merman and mermaid

sail sculpture

I like these sculptures, too. But even more, I like the street art: crumbling walls painted in strange glyphs that evoke other, impossibly distant civilizations. Like some of the best graphic-novel art, these paintings evoke moods for which we have no words.

small IMG_3324 painted wall

small IMG_3325 painted wall 2

small IMG_3326 painted wall 3

small IMG_3328 painted wall 4

And what else I like about them is their universality. This could be the street art of an ancient Mixtec culture. Or the street art on Beta Centauri 4. Or then again, it could be the street art of San Francisco.

mural in San Francisco