A lovely sunny day to head to Hobart and the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). I highly recommend a visit to this gallery. Whilst some aspects are confronting, it is a marvellous experience that encourages you to look at things with a fresh perspective. I found that I spent a while gazing at and contemplating various pieces, completely engrossed in the messages provoked by the art. Some of my favourite items are pictured below. I could talk a lot more about the things I loved, like the clockwork head and a pinball machine depicting the fragility and beauty of life and death. I loved the Madonna singalong exhibition. And found it completely intriguing that something initially grotesque can be made to appear beautiful and artistic.
Sometimes I looked at things and felt terribly sad or even a bit ill. There is a level of the gallery that we did not see, but I’ve heard you’d really want to keep your kids out of that part. I think that MONA is unsuitable for children and our older two children did not come along.
I liked using ‘the O’ to make my gallery tour an informative one. I love reading about the story behind the artwork, but I usually try to have a big think about it first. Perhaps this is the reason that I got lost in the gallery. I fell behind our little group somewhere between a poo factory and a sculpture of a woman crouched into a wall. I was reading about a few photographs; there were some that really got me pondering the answer to life, the universe and everything. Suddenly I found myself completely alone near a confronting painting of Burke and Wills. I was lost! Luckily I found by way back to everybody and enjoyed a chai latte (which was too cold for my tastes) and had a bit of a rest and debrief.
The grounds were beautiful at MONA. Sooo beautiful, and the surrounding views of the water around the gallery property are divine. I recommend my interstate friends to visit the gallery (perhaps leaving your children at my house for the day).