Mona ninja and Bat girl selfie
The best and only way to arrive at MONA is to emerge from the 'posh pit' of the MONA ferry boat, full of champagne and canapes.
Leaving for Tasmania I was convinced I was the only person on the planet who had not been to MONA. 'Sex and death' declared a lady in my Pilate's class, 'My seventy seven year old mother is going there this weekend, I'm not sure what she'll think of it'. I was also told of the fifty plaster cast virginas. Armed with this information and a head full of champagne, my very dear friend Louise and I ascended the 100 steps to the mirrored wall entrance of MONA.
MONA is an experience. It is unlike any other exhibition space I have been in. It is dark and immersive and unapologetic. Its contents are challenging, thought provoking, provocative and humorous. I am not saying that I engaged with everything within the dark cavernous walls, like any gallery or museum there are always artworks that are walked past without hesitation, but the pieces I admired most stayed with me long after our champagne induced return.
Sex. The first of these I very nearly walked past. From the outside it appeared as an enormous cube with a door in it. It appeared as part of the building. But then someone emerged from the room and we could hear music playing. There was something in there. There was indeed. Thirty television screens with images of dedicated Madonna enthusiasts belting out the songs of Madonna karaoke style. We pulled up some silver beans bags and settled back to watch. I found it intriguing to compare the differing personalities and the obvious love and enthusiasm they have for their idol. Naturally voyeuristic, it is not long before comparisons are made and favourites are decided. Even in the comfort of a small room watching this strangely mesmerising and compelling footage, human instinct could not be tamed.
Death. My other two stand outs of MONA were also rooms within the space. Immersive in that entering the artwork was part of the experience. I should put a spoiler alert on the following review, for it will give the secret away. "Kryptos", or the binary room is a small dark space entered by a corridor. Binary numbers and words appear in laser cut outs along the walls, and is lit by strip lighting under the path. There is an unpleasant humming that echoes around the walls, that bring you to a narrower corridor, where the humming is reduced and almost relaxing. The corridor leads to a small door way that requires crouching to move through. The space inside is quite small, possibly the size of a small elevator and is very dark. Louise had entered the space ahead of me and had just looked up as I began to enter the space. I had not even stood up when I looked up and saw, what I believed, where two bodies hanging from ropes around their ankles. Naturally I scream and shot out of the space while my head slowly registered it was a reflection of Louise and myself...inverted...in a black mirror? I don't know, and I did not go back. Louise was so distressed she had to wait and see other people's reactions to the space to understand her own. They were pretty much the same. Later we marvelled that an artwork could evoke such emotion.
Serenity. Possibly my favourite of all the exhibition pieces. It is a completely white room, with fluorescent lighting, which takes a moment to adjust to after being seduced by the dark space that is MONA. It is a library full of white bound books with no words. It is blissfully peaceful. It is like the space that you crave in your head or in your house or in your world. A space devoid of information throwing itself at you constantly. It is the zen garden. Quiet, still, calm and breathing. Again this space made me think about art in a way I had not before.
I think that was the significance of these three pieces. They each made me consider that art could be more than something to be looked at or critiqued or debated. Art can be a space that can be entered in to and that can evoke an emotional experience. I believe the lighting enhanced that experience. The black walls and tiny spotlights produced a reassuring, calming effect. It melted inhibitions and gave permission to stand and appreciate, or not, with out feeling the spotlight of judgement was on you.
Although confronting in parts, I have not heard anyone I have spoken to say a negative word against MONA. I think that is because it is not trying to be something, it just is. It is someones private collection, housed in someones private purpose built gallery, and it allows the most wonderful experience because of it.
