Staying in Hobart we could not miss the opportunity to explore the infamous Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) with our 8-year-old Kidsetter. Before entering the building, Mona had already captured our Kidsetter’s imagination having a tennis court in front and giant trampoline structure for kids to jump on. There is also a fabulous concrete truck made from corrugated iron that captured his attention. Personally, I was extremely excited to be here given Mona is ranked number 1 art gallery in Australia.
Entering the art gallery is a unique experience. We took a lift thirteen metres underground inside carved out of rock down to an area called ‘The Void’. The Triassic-aged sandstone wall are a beautiful backdrop for the artwork. The first piece of modern art that captured our Kidsetter’s attention was called ‘Bit.fall’. A two-story pulsing waterfall of 128 computer-controlled nozzles that briefly drip a display of words streamed from real-time Google searches. “Brexit” appears briefly and tumbles to the ground with a splash as does the word “climate”. Fascinating !
Our Kidsetter was obsessed with an artist view of drawing an image upside down where he could sit and hone his drawing skills in this unique set up.
Making our way through some dark luminously lit tunnels we found ourselves at ‘The Grotto’. It is a small room fitted with crystal like structures flashing light on and off cushions formulating layers you could easily imagine to be from outer space. We took off our shoes and pretended we were astronauts landing on this foreign planet.
So, this is a Modern Art museum which means anything goes. It was time to meet the infamous ‘Cloaca’. Cloaca is a large assembly of hanging vessels connected by tubes which replicate the gastroenterological journey food takes, beginning at mastication and ending several hours later if defecation, complete with the authentic smell. Ah, yes. You can imagine an 8-year-old boy’s delight when he soon realised this was all about ‘poo’.
Visitors to MONA are invited to view the “feeding” twice a day, where a staff member places small portions of food into a receptacle where it is ingested, slowly passing through a range of processes before it emerges at the other end of the machine as faecal matter, daily about 2:00pm. Absolutely gross, but apparently has helped educate visitors on the importance of gut health.
Next we entered a tunnel which spat us out at Faro Tapas, a bar and restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the Derwent. It’s the new centre of the Mona maze called ‘Pharos’, jutting out dramatically over the water and includes a handful of big art works, one taking centre stage called ‘Unseen Seen’.
Concrete, steel and granite remain the staple materials used in Mona’s new $20 million wing. A calming atmosphere allowing some breathing space before we ventured back into the art-fray. We sat drinking mocktails enjoying the breath-taking view.
