OMG MONA!

I was lucky enough to get to MONA on the weekend with one of my best mates, K. MONA is the Museum of Old and New Art, a new-ish establishment in Tasmania’s capital town, Hobart (it can’t be a city can it??). For those of you not from this neck of the woods, Tassie is the island state that hangs off the bottom of Australia. In fact, when people asked where we were from, the usual joke was “Australia”.

We flew down Friday afternoon. All week I’d been picturing us, decadently sipping bubbles in the business lounge, awaiting our flight. But sadly we were on the discount airline, greeted with “You have one minute to check in – you’re late!” and sent to the basement departure gate that smelt like wet carpet…. never mind, we were on our way! And thankfully could purchase a suitable (ie alcoholic) beverage on the plane.

Saturday morning had us on the first ferry to MONA – a slick white catamaran that served lattes and delicious baked goodies. We arrived, climbed the many stairs and we were away….

We took the advice of the staff and took the spiral stair case down the shaft that has been carved out of the sandstone cliff. The building itself is a visual feast worthy of time to wander and admire its perfect design, grandeur and masculinity. Vaulted walls of sheered sandstone are a perfect backdrop to the weathered steel stairs and ramps, and suddenly contrast with low, industrial-like gridded concrete ceilings. 

If the building is a visual feast, the art is a banquet for the mind. So many provocative ideas expressed in so many different ways. There are some Australian legends like Boyd and Nolan, ancient pieces from Egypt and Greece and an array of modern installations that explore topics as diverse as transgenderism, terrorism, euthanasia, poverty, all kinds of sexual behaviour including bestiality, presence, truth, the Dreamtime, rape as a war crime, religion, space, knowledge and race. No topic is taboo. (And probably not an outing for the kids....)

There are bean bags to lie in to watch ‘Pickled Porn’ projected onto the ceiling and several interactive exhibits (I won’t spoil it all for you). You navigate with an iPod like device that works out where you are and shows the art around you. Tap the picture and can you can read the title, artist, the idea, the ‘art wank’ or the layman’s point of view. You can hear interviews with the artist and in some cases, sound tracks that go with the piece. You even get to tap ‘Love’ or ‘Hate’.

The most hated piece is a machine that replicated the human digestive system. It’s fed twice a day and poos on to a plate at 2pm. We caught that bit… you could almost chew the smell it was so thick! The artist describes his work as a parody to all that crap that art often is. And is that art? Who knows but it certainly gets you thinking.

Look closely - it is a plate of machine poo.

If you ever get the chance, it’s well worth the trip.