Monday, February 6, 2012

MONA: The world's most far-out museum

by Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Chiseled into an escarpment on the banks of the Derwent River in the northern suburbs of Hobart is a subterranean fortress housing one of the most confronting and controversial collections of art in the world.

The crowning achievement of Tasmanian David Walsh, a mathematician and art collector who made millions perfecting algorithms that let him to beat casinos and bookies at their own game, MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) has made a name for itself by breaking every rule in the book since opening its doors in January of last year.

The entrance, for example, casts aside the grand porticos and columns commonly seen at museums in favor of a synthetic tennis court and unmarked doorway.

?When you go to a conventional museum you are forced to walk up stairs and past pillars meant to make you feel small and then have academics tell you it?s culture,? says research curator Delia Nicholls. ?But David wanted none of that so he built this place underground.?

Why the tennis court? ?Because he likes tennis,? says Nicholls.

read more

Mena Suvari Mia Kirshner Michael Michele Michelle Behennah

No comments:

Post a Comment