David Hildebrand Wilson and Diana Drake Wilson started the Museum of Jurassic Technology. This museum was located in Los Angeles, California, USA. This museum was started in 1988 as an unconventional institute known for its blend of Science, Art, History and Mythology. Further, the museum also displays the challenges of the boundaries of fact and fiction, imaginative inquisitiveness, and thought-provoking. The museum’s collection is not certain and clarified.
Who is the founder and what is the main purpose behind it?
David Wilson founded this unusual museum and intended the museum to be enthusiastic about the forgotten, the unclear, and the mysterious. The main purpose behind this is to improve the knowledge and public gratitude of the lower Jurassic. The museum’s overall approach is to challenge expectations. It lines up with Wilson’s way of life stimulating “the deliberate suspension of disbelief.”
Who is David Wilson?
David Wilson is an artist and designer. He is the main person behind the unconventional museum named The Museum of Jurassic Technology. He is a great inspiration for how we unite and record cultural artefacts. He completed his Bachelor’s degree at Kalamazoo College in 1969. Further, he learned filmmaking from the California Institute of the Arts.
The exhibits
The Museum of Jurassic Technology has a variety of exhibits that range from the arcane to the surreal. Numerous exhibits features, natural specimens, artefacts and models. These exhibits are presented within an academic rigour reminiscent of the 19th-century Museum of Natural History, technology, and Anthropology here is the list of some great exhibits;
The microminiature sculpture of Hagop Sandaldijan this exhibit demonstrates complex capture made from Rice grains or placed inside the eyes of needles. It is created by Armenian artist Hagop Sandaldijan. These sculptures can be seen through microscopes and need some patience and skills.
The stink ant of Cameroon and the fungus that kills it
It is a biological exhibit that shows information about a parasitic fungus named Ophiocordypes. This parasitic fungus infects ants in the Cameroon Jungle. This fungus attacks the brain of the ant leading to death in a certain location where the fungus can reproduce. This exhibit gives scientific information, but it is showcased in a way that seems out of place in a traditional museum.
Tell the Bees: Belief, Knowledge and Hypersymbolic Cognition
This installation revolves the folk tradition and obscure cultural practises like the ritual of telling the bees. This exhibit shows the broader survey of how different societies pass down knowledge and inter-winning facts with folklore.
The Garden of Eden on Wheels
This exhibit shows the dedication to trailer parks and their cultural significance in American society. It also takes a mundane aspect of modern life and imbues it with a sense of history and gravitas. It is a collection from the Los Angeles area trailer park.
Rotten luck: the decaying life of Ricky Jay
Assortment of decomposing antique dice after on by magician, Ricky Jay. It is documented in his book named Dice: Deception, Fate, and Rotten Luck.
Design and Atmosphere of the Museum of Jurassic Technology
Stepping into the museum of Jurassic technology gives the feeling of entering into a different world. The design of the museum is purposely puzzling, dim lighting, small exhibition rooms, and with narrow entrances. It gives a more enigmatic place than it appears from the outside. This complicated arrangement is linked with the odd and apparently unplanned placements of exhibits. It grows visitor interest to explore each and every corner carefully. The dim lighting gives an extra layer of mystery that makes it interesting to distinguish the boundaries between illusion and reality. The museum has also several sounds like soft music, strange, sounds and whispers that link to specific exhibits. All of these add an extra element to the strange experience. The design and architectural features, add an experience of a thoughtful atmosphere.
The exclusivity of the Museum of Jurassic Technology
The Museum of Jurassic Technology is undoubtedly the kind of wonder. This museum invites visitors to feel a sense of encounter and makes them think about the nature of the knowledge being presented. This museum forces you to think about whether is it true or false to be believed. Several exhibits are based on real scientific philosophies, but the museum contains refined distortions. By inviting the visitor to question the truth of the information they are seeing. After visiting, visitors have questions more than answers which makes this museum unique. This museum draws inspiration from cabinets of interest and features an assortment of oddities, samples, and leftovers.
How to visit the MJT?
Website: https://www.mjt.org/
Location: 9341 Venice Blvd, Culver City, LA, California, USA
Opening Hours: Thursday, 2:PM to 8:PM, Friday-Sunday, 12:PM to 6:PM
Cost: $15
Ticket Booking: You need to reserve a ticket in advance through the official website (Provide some details, Quantity and schedule your time)
As per the official website, visitors have to arrive at least 15 minutes before their appointment. Further, visitors must keep their confirmation email to get entry inside.
However, if visitors want to reschedule their visit, then they have to do so before 24 hours before. Visitors can find the link to reschedule inside the confirmation link.
If visitors want to cancel the appointment, then visitors need to get in touch with the ticketing@mjt.org.
The Borzoi Kabinet Theater and The Tea Room
The Borzoi Kabinet Theater displays a series of poetic documentaries produced by MJT in partnership with Kabinet, an arts and science collective based in St. Petersburg. The film series named A Chain of Flowers gets its name from a quote by Charles Wilson Peale “The Learner must be led always from familiar objects toward the unfamiliar, guided along, as it were, a chain of flowers into the mysteries of life.” The Films contained in this series are
2012- Language of the Birds
2011- The Book of Wisdom and Lies
2008- Bol’shoe Sovietskaia Zatmenie: The Great Soviet Eclipse
2005- Obshee Delo: The Common Task
2001- Levsha: The Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea
The MJT museum opened its Tula Tea Room in 2005. It is a comfy Russian-style tea room where visitors can enjoy Georgian tea and cookies. All these facilities are included in the admission fee. The tea room is a small model of Tsar Nicholas II’s study from the Winter Palace in Petersburg, Russia. In addition to its attraction, the space is shared with live doves and other birds.
Final Words
The Museum of Jurassic Technology is a reflection on the nature of knowledge, belief and perception. The exhibits force visitors to rethink what they know about the world and how they know it. This museum provides a space where mystery and thoughts take preference over faith. There is no doubt that this museum has a long-lasting impression on the visitors who visit. Read More about Revo Technologies Murray Utah and heardle 80s.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Museum of Jurassic Technology is odd and extensive in Culver City, California. This museum showcases a range of art, history, science, and vague curiosities that run opposing to mainstream museums.
The museum was established in 1994 by David and Diana Wilson. It has since evolved into a unique and interesting cultural institution. Since then, it has blurred history, art, and speculative themes.
The museum hosts countless different exhibits such as Miniature dioramas
The oddities of history
Pseudoscience
Mythical creatures
Strange inventions
Some exhibits have realistic scientific information and some others are purely fictional or speculative.
It combines the scientific with some artistic and conceptual aspects. In order to blur the lines between history and science.
You can visit around 1 to 2 hours. However, this time varies depending on how much you spend time observing each exhibit.
The museum is open to all ages. However, its abstract and odd character might not be immediately understandable for younger children.
The museum’s uniqueness is found in the extensive collection of facts, fiction, and interpretation through art.
No, the Museum of Jurassic Technology is not free. There is a small entrance fee for visitors, which helps maintain the museum and funds.
The museum does not have a formal guided tour, but there are background and related informational posters by each exhibit. The museum encourages the visitor to explore and interpret.
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