I
went to visit Mona, I now believe in GOD.
After
running the gauntlet of ‘stuff you don’t need’ at the airport. After being shot
at high speed through clouds into a soft blue space. After landing with a
slight rumble onto the tarmac at Hobart, we were ready for Mona.
Where
does one begin with this amazing and magical place. I suppose at the start
would be good. A ferry ride up the Derwent river to the Mona landing followed
by 99 steps took us to the entrance. A wonderful way to arrive. However, before
we entered the Museum of Old and New Art there was much to see outside. Set in
a frame of heavy slabs of rusted steel, a border with the outside world, we
wandered and wondered from one art piece to another.
A
larger then life cement truck created from waste sheets of rusted steel
welcomed us into the land of magic and wonder. Wandering on we found ‘Chapel’, a
building created from similar rusted steel by the same artist. ‘Exquisite’ comes
to mind. Next, a huge slab of aluminium, suspended in the sky, has a square
hole cut in it. I sit below it and view a framed aspect of the sky. This simple
but strong and beautiful work seems based on the concept of the Zen view.
Time
to enter the museum. Two doors of black glass, situated in a wall of mirrored
metal, slide silently open into the entrance and the world of magic. The magic
of art, the magic of architecture, plus the magic of both brilliance and
madness combined. One takes a circular lift into a subterranean world and lands
into a space, I imagine, not unlike that of Alice in wonderland. The first
artwork to be experienced, besides the astonishing architecture, which, by the
way, reminded me of being in an Egyptian pyramid, was a work where water
dropped from a horizontal pipe and in that dropping created words. One word
after the other dropping from above. Random words. Readable rain. A mesmerising
work.
Between
this work and the last, which was a full size Porsch, manufactured in
fire-engine red plastic, (Imagine this car blown up and becoming very fat,)
were many truly fantastic works to be enjoyed, to marvel at and be surprised
by. Works such as an eerie room, like a tomb. You walk on stepping stones, set
in black water, towards a platform with two coffins, one with a mummy and one
with video of the same mummy, which slowly reveals the inside of the mummy. So,
in time, a skeleton is revealed. A powerful piece. In another space, on a black
wall is a line of 77 3d white porcelain prints of vaginas. Each one different.
Then there are numerous multimedia works and video installations. Plus
throughout, special pieces of ancient art. One wonders where David Walsh, the creator
of Mona, got these treasures.
There
was a clue when after a day spend in the museum, I once more wondered around
outside and found his reserved car park. It stated in big bold letters ‘reserved’
‘GOD’, with a slick car in front of
it. GOD was home. Next to this was an equally shiny Mercedes with the words
‘reserved’ ‘GOD’s mistress’ on the
wall.
That
is why now, after visiting one of the most amazing museums I have ever experienced,
I believe in GOD. Go and visit Mona. You haven’t lived until you do. You may
even get a glimpse of GOD if he isn’t gambling somewhere, that is, to make more
money to finance his wonderful museum.
Petrus
June
2015
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