jwg

On the way to South Africa we had a day in London. One of the things we did while there was to visit the Wellcome Collection - a museum dedicated to exhibitions about health. Henry Wellcome was a medical entrepreneur and his estate provided funding to start this collection and it's mission to deal with Health care ideas.and It had a large collection of medical devices including some 19th century artificial limbs.

There was also a collection called Play Well. It featured exibitions of things to enduce children and adults to play constructively. which has good health implications. With various subtleties such as a dolls' house that was open on both sides to encourage children to work together. Also Legos and larger collections of objects to place in play areas that would encourage experimental construction.

I remember as a child I loved setting up and modifying my elaborate electric train layout and also playing with erector sets to build elaborate structures;.

And yet some more old stuff seen in Djúpivogur. I missed the icebergs...
Click below for pictures

Two old Singer Sewing machines seen in a museum in Djúpivogur, Iceland. And the part of one that is holding up my desk at home. I also have one holding up a table in Gloucester.

Walking about Djúpivogur, a port on the southeast side of Iceland.

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And of course some stuff in a museum (click below for pictures):

Wandering thorough the Technical Museum in Seyðisfjörður (Iceland) I saw a bunch of old telephone equipment.

Click below for a few photos:

We then (Aug 5) went to the Seyðisfjörður Technical Museum which had a great collection of old stuff.

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We wandered around in the Siglufjördur Herring Era Museum. It is huge with many different exhibitions. It has various artifacts such as model boats, old electronics, and other weird things (the latter is what always intrigues me).

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I like browsing through collections of old stuff seen in museums and historical collections in old houses. Here is some from one of the first of many we saw.

(Sometimes I think I could turn parts of our house into such a collection.)

One of the museums in Reykjavik we visited was the Phallological Museum. It is a collection of phallic specimens from many mammals (209 specimens from 46 species of mammals)- plus some humor. And yes, it is also called the Penis Museum.

After resting a bit in our hotel room to help recover from jetlag we started walking around Ryekjavik. We had flown over a day before the cruise was supposed to start - conveniently we were able to get into our hotel room at 7:30 am.

One of the first places we visited was The Settlement Exhibition, a museum with lots of exhibits about the early Viking settlers in Iceland. It is titled Reykjavik 871± 2 because 871 or so was the year when there was a volcanic eruption which deposited some materials which were used as part of the construction of a hall that was occupied from 930-1000.

There was a model of the settlement that was hard to photograph because there was no way to get the camera high enough (I should have had my monopod - left in the hotel room - which would have helped.)

There were models of the building which was a pretty elaborate structure (but I apparently didn't take a picture of it) and lots of information that they had figured out about the settlement.

And some items from later times - at many places there were collections of stuff like this which I always like looking at:

Another event for Motss.Con XXXII was a visit to the Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden located on the Stanford University campus. It was entrancing to wander around in it. I definitely recommend a visit there if you go to Palo Alto.

In 1994 a grad student in the Stanford Antropology Department arranged for some groups of men to come to Palo Alto from Papua New Guinea to carve a bunch of scultpures. They sit in a wooded area that was arranged to look like their home territory. Many of them were just carved out of large trees - several were painted with bright colors. Some were carved out of pumice. Included was a version of the Thinker - to complement the nearby Rodin Thinker.

As part of the motss con some of us went to the Dali Expo in Monterey. Dali actually lived in Monterey for a few years and many of the works in this exhibit were illustrations for books (not biology text books!).

We have been to quite a few Dali museums - one of the most interesting was in Cadequés in a bulding that was his home. Of course I'd like to see a Dali exhibit in a building designed by Escher.

I am glad that I am not Dali's psychiatrist.

As a very simple desciption of complex history, the Basilica of the Hagia Sophia was built in 360 as an Eastern Orthodox church in Constantinople. Earthquakes, wars, political disruptions, etc. caused it to have a complex history with considerable damage and rebuilding at avrious times - it was turned in to a Mosque in 1453. In 1935 it was turned into a museum. There is a movement to turn it into a Mosque again. As in many historical building there is renovation work underway so some of the views are messed up.

We could see it from the roof of our hotel. and it was the first place that we visited.

Click for larger view of pictures;

We went to Espace Dalí Paris in Montmontre which was full of incredible examples of Dali's work. Lots of fun to walk around and see huge amounts and variety of his work. Of course if you want to find out what time it is the clocks aren't very helpful. In 2012 when we were in Barcelona we went to the Dalí museum in Cadaqués which is located in a house that he lived in.

I always wonder what a session between Salvator Dalí and his psychiatrist would be like...

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There was a hiuge display of small ceramic sculptures from indigenous peoples in one of the Quito musums that we visited. Here are a few.

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We visited two interesting Art Museums in Bogotá. The first was filled with works by Botero who specialized in fat people and things - both painting and sculpture. The second with some very weird modern Art, an array of chairs wearing clothes, a Piper Cub shot down by arrows, and a set of benches that had speakers in them with the caption "Surround with sound your ass".

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The Museo Regional de Antropología “Palacio Canton” is in an magnificent old mansion on Paseo de Montejo in Mérida. Paseo de Montejo is a tree lined boulevard in a fashionable district (near the center and thus a short walk from our hotel).

It is full of fascinating Mayan artifacts.

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As we contiued to wander around the Museum of New and Old Art we saw a wide range of stuff. In one room there were lots of pictures or films of people shouting; it was quite noisy. Overall I strongly recommend a visit this museum.

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As our Australia trip of more than two months ago drew to a close we went to Tasmania. Lots of people had reciommended going there and I certainly make that recommendation.

A one of our first things we did was to go to MONA, Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, a fascinating experience. Some people apparently call it the Museum of Not Art.

The easiest way to get to it from downtown Hobart was by boat. The boat was amusing with a cow and a bunch of sheep that were actually seats. When we got there there was this marvelous sculpture of a cement mixer outside. Inside our first view showed in interesting architecture and the beginnings a huge range of types of art.

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While touring the Great Ocean Road we visited the Cape Otway Lightstation and it's accompanying museum. We saw a couple of whales out on the lawn and some other interesting old stuff as well all along a lovely seaside.

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Entries tagged with museums

Wellcome Collection in London

Djúpivogur - more museum contents

Old style Singer Sewing machines

Djúpivogur

Telephone equipment in Seyðisfjörður museum

Seyðisfjörður Technical Museum

Siglufjördur Herring Era Museum

Miscellaneous stuff in old building in Reykjavik

Iceland Phallological Museum

The Settlement Exhibition in Reykjavik

Papua New Gunea Sculpture Garden

The Dali Expo in Monterey

Hagia Sophia

A vist to the Dalí Museum

Some nice artifacts in a Quito Museum

Bogota Art Museums

Museo Regional de Antropología “Palacio Canton”

More of the contents of MONA in Tasmania

Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania

Cape Otway Lightstation