The Null Device

Posts matching tags 'pataphysics'

2001/11/12

This afternoon, I went to the Museum of Modern Oddities (today was its last day, and I hadn't managed to find the time to go earlier). It was interesting, in a surrealistic sense; it was in an old hardware shop in Collingwood (looking very much like something from decades ago, with decades-old stock still remaining amidst the exhibits), and had a number of exhibits, which took the form of found objects and dioramas thereof, with stories attached.

Some of the exhibits they had were Jock the Racing Possum (a dessicated possum corpse and a glimpse into a little-known aspect of colonial Australian life), the Geoffrey Dunstable Mania Dioramas (arrangements of nails and screws said to depict various states of mania and depression), and various arrangements of objects in boxes, often with labels attached giving them new meanings. There was also a do-it-yourself souvenir stand where one could take souvenirs home, in the form of pre-bagged objects from prior visitors, as long as you placed an object of your own in a bag provided, leaving it for another visitor. There was also a book for sale, of which I bought a copy; it's vaguely surrealistic, and has a lot of nice photographs of objects and other good design.

I also ran into Michael from Beebo there (whom I knew from my days at Monash).

The museum is now closed, but with any luck, they'll reopen at some stage somewhere else.

art bizarre eccentricity found pataphysics photos surrealism 0

2000/12/4

Pataphysics in the News: In Austria, a group known as the Society of Surplus Thought is having a chindogu-esque exhibit of failed inventions, such as the roll-up zebra crossing, the heated garden gnome that melts snow and the transparent suitcase designed for easy customs inspection. And it looks like turning into a permanent fixture; the Austrian government has agreed to subsidise a Nonsense Museum to house the exhibits.

austria bizarre chindogu nonsense pataphysics 0

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