[lj idol] week seventeen | "down on my knees, I wanna take you there..."

[waltzmatildah]

[feels like flying]Over budget and overdue, the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) on the banks of the River Derwent in Hobart, Tasmania, certainly had the northern suburbs locals talking well before its doors finally opened in January, 2011. Resolutely carved into the ancient sandstone cliffs of the Berridale Peninsula, it is a mostly underground

Comments

[theun4givables]

I don't care whether or not it's considered art, I wanna go there. Like yesterday. And meander around the maze of rooms. Because it sounds awesome.

And I guess that's really the point of it all. :)

[waltzmatildah]

You should totally come here! I am an excellent tour guide! Though really, you don't need a tour guide for MONA, just an open mind.

It really, really, REALLY is awesome. I've been super lucky to travel lots. I've been to some very prestigious museums and art galleries on several different continents. THIS ONE IS MY FAVOURITE! And not just because it's two minutes from my front door either.

And not only is there the museum, but there's also a fabulous restaurant, a tapas bar, an outdoor stage, tee pees, a parking spot labelled for 'God', a market, and TWO festivals (one of which is in the middle of winter and is GLORIOUS). No matter what else people say about him, they're all in agreement that David Walsh has revolutionised tourism in Tasmania.

[bleodswean]

This is an incredibly well-written non-fic piece. WOW!!! These lines will stay with me for some long time - It is possible to argue it’s not even about the art. It’s about the conversations the art triggers. Very impressed.

[waltzmatildah]

Thank you! I was super nervous because, well, non-fiction. But there was talk in the Green Room this week of "stepping up" for the Top 100, so this was my version of that.

[swirlsofblue]

Love this, love the concept of what's real 'art' and that the purpose is the discussion itself, and inciting such discussion is art itself. Love how you used it in the piece and explained about the museum which sounds like an intriguingly awesome place.

[waltzmatildah]

Thank you! And it really is an intriguingly awesome place. When you come visit me I'll take you there :)

[tsuki_no_bara]

this is completely fascinating. i'm not the biggest fan of contemporary art - i do tend to look at it and wonder "is this art?" and "why is this here?" - but man, i have got to see this place. david walsh sounds like an interesting guy and his museum sounds like it houses an incredibly thought-provoking collection.

[waltzmatildah]

David Walsh has been incredible for Tasmania. We're kind of the forgotten state, for the most part. We're the oldest, sickest, poorest, most unemployed, but we're also beautiful and surprising and friendly and kinda jaw-dropping. It's taken David's vision for us to really understand that about ourselves, I think.

I posted an image of the museum itself above. I'll give you another one here of something different: ARGH. LJ has thwarted me and is refusing to upload anything... Photobucket it is. Two seconds...

[tsuki_no_bara]

i get airsick and i hate to fly, and i'm pretty sure just the getting to australia would kill me (i live in massachusetts, like literally the other side of the world), but now i want to go to tasmania and see this museum! it looks really cool just as architecture - that top pic is beautiful - never mind all the thinking that the art is supposed to inspire. it looks like it would be worth the trip.

[halfshellvenus]

Terrifically well-written piece. Most of this stuff sounds dreadful to me, but the idea of the thinking it provokes being the point is really intriguing.

[waltzmatildah]

Thank you! I was super nervous about submitting a non-fiction piece.

Also, I once took my grandmother to MONA, and while most of the 'art' was a bit too much for her, she absolutely LOVED the architecture of the building itself. It is kind of incredible.