Museum of Jurassic Technology

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Entrance to the Museum of Jurassic Technology on Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles

The Museum of Jurassic Technology was founded in 1989 and is located in Los Angeles . Based on the concept of the Wunderkammer, it presents a mixture of mostly fictitious natural objects or objects from the fringes of art and science. Understood by its founder David Wilson as an homage to the museum , it is often interpreted as an artistic installation , superfiction or as a critique of institutions or science.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology , which by its own account has more than 23,000 visitors a year, runs its own publications program together with the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Information and has a branch in the Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum in Hagen . The MacArthur Foundation recognized David Wilson for his work in 2001 by making him a Fellow .

Museum concept

The form and content of the Museum of Jurassic Technology suggest a comparison with postmodern conceptual art . Similar to the artistic securing of evidence , it exhibits largely fictional archaeological or historical objects which, by suggesting natural and historical research, cause the viewer to grapple with objectivity and institutional authority (which are particularly important in museums). The name and thematic orientation of the museum already indicate: According to its own presentation, it serves "as an educational institution promoting knowledge and public appreciation of the Lower Jura ". On the one hand, it provides "the academic community with a specialized collection of relics and artifacts from the Lower Jurassic, with an emphasis on those that have unusual and unusual technical characteristics". On the other hand, it enables “the general public to experience life in the Jura directly”. - This is scientifically nonsensical, since the geological epoch of the Jura ended 145 million years ago and was therefore long before the appearance of humans and the development of the first technical devices.

Most of the exhibits quickly reveal themselves to be manufactured , but in many cases a real background can also be found (such as ants that are eaten alive by fungal spores), and there are objects that - albeit little-known - marginal areas of art and Science (for example microminiatures), so that it is not easy to give a general judgment on the actual seriousness of the exhibition. The absurd attributions and confusing explanations (such as a map of Egypt with the title Jurassic ) follow methods of metafiction and scientific wit ; through the conscious use of irony and self-reflection , they openly address the ambiguous and ambiguous as well as the construction of reality. The associative mixture of scientific and artistic objects means an aesthetic reference to the early modern collection concept of the Wunderkammer and thus refers to the historical dimension of the museum. The motivation of amazement and wonder, which was characteristic of the Chambers of Wonder, is, as the creation of affects and the creativity that follows , part of postmodern central ideas and also a declared goal of the Museum of Jurassic Technology .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Sometimes people look at our museum as a critique of museums. But for us, I mean, we look at it more as like a homage to museums. [...] But people from the outside see it in many different ways. The way people see it tends to reflect where their area of ​​endeavor comes from. People in the museum world often times will look at our museum as a critique of museums. People from the art world call it a performance art or art. People from the scientific community will understand it as a critique of science, or someway a critique of scientific principles or scientific theory. And, you know, we're happy with that. [1]
  2. ^ Tony Perrottet: The Museum of Jurassic Technology. In: Smithsonian Magazine. June 2011, accessed on June 23, 2019 .
  3. ^ The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, California is an educational institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and the public appreciation of the Lower Jurassic. Like a coat of two colors, the museum serves dual functions. On the one hand the Museum provides the academic community with a specialized repository of relics and artifacts from the Lower Jurassic, with an emphasis on those that demonstrate unusual or curious technological qualities. On the other hand the museum serves the general public by providing the visitor a hands-on experience of "life in the Jurassic". [2]
  4. One of the things that we are greatly interested in is helping people to achieve states of wonder. [...] We feel that confusion can be a very creative state of mind. In fact, confusion can act as a vehicle to open people's minds. Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 27, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.soundportraits.org

Coordinates: 34 ° 1 ′ 32.2 "  N , 118 ° 23 ′ 43.4"  W.