MONA: Sex X and Death +

The MONA "logo" X+ represents sex X and death +

When I walked into MONA on the Friday afternoon after my revolution around the Hobart horizon at Wrest Point Casino which I wrote about in this red link below- 
Revolver
I was met by a concrete slab erect and pointing to the sky with an X+ at the top of it.
I had been doing some reading of Adrian Franklin's book  
'The Making of MONA' the night before, so I knew that the X represented sex and that the + represented death, which really made me think how apt it was when having a shave in my motel room and seeing the hot and cold taps on the bathroom sink mimicking the MONA logo.  
The Making of MONA

My motel bathroom sink's X hot and + cold taps

Hot (X/sex) tap and Cold (+/as death) tap?-)

Hot and Cold make "LUKEWARM"?-)

+ Death?!

I couldn't help but think of the obelisk I had passed not long ago in the city centre of Hobart when I saw MONA's little obelisk poking into the sky.

I also read last night in'The Making of MONA' that the houses that were on the MONA site when David Walsh bought the vineyard were designed by the same architect who designed the casino that I was staying in.

Sex X and loss +?-)

The 17 story casino building also points to the sky like a big obelisk and has a revolving restaurant on the top floor, to boot. 

I wonder if the MONA tennis court represents 0 Luv?-)

I luv-ed the tennis court entrance to the gallery and had a ball inside.
Maybe MONA should release a line tennis gear, like black tennis balls with pink sex and death crosses on them for eyes (and maybe an 0 Luv for a mouth?-) similar to the 'Suicide Squad' poster has on it.
X sex, +death and 0 Luv? 

Maybe a question mark would make a better symbol for love come to think of it.
It would have been good if MONA had of sold strawberries and cream and iced tea before you made it in to the gallery to give it that Wimbledon feel.

And maybe with Tasmania being known as the Apple Isle, handing out one of these forbidden fruits of knowledge wouldn't go astray as you made your way to the underground, either.

+ Rust/Death?

The way down and into the art gallery on the spiral staircase

X+ Marriage? X Broken Rubber? + Please Kill Me?

I don't know what this artwork above was called, but I have suggested a few names of my own, as to me it looked like a married couple living under the one roof, with the pen trying to draw something, while the rubber kept trying to erase it's progress and the pen kept drawing over what the rubber had removed.
All we needed here was a toilet seat being flipped up and down by the opposing objects, as well, to make it clear that it was a married couple we were witnessing at "play";-)

On the subject of  + death, it wouldn't be too hard to kill yourself in here, accidentally or otherwise, just take a look over a few railings as you walk around and make your way back up to the surface.

So tempted to make this into a Tasmanian library joke...but I won't;-)

Exsit?

Here is a work of art I found on the wall that my Canadian friend Jake Kotze would like, because before I left Brisbane to come down here Jake was right into exit signs and putting words like EXSIT under them, but like I told him -

But I think that may have actually been a real exit sign in MONA and not a work of art.

There is a very '2001: A Space Odyssey' ish art work called Kryptos made by Brigita Ozolins, which is really like being in a Kubrick movie where the outdoor maze from 'The Shining' has been crossed with the spaceship and Monolith from 2001 to make an even creepier maze where you might just find yourself in the centre of it all ... just don't forget to look up when you do.

I used a flash here, otherwise it would be pretty dark in here

There are numbers on the wall of the "maze"made from only 1s and 0s and since my car's odometer hit 11111 when I crossed the Victorian border I spent quite a while in the dark looking for 11111, but only found a 00111111 which was bent around a corner leaving the 11111 part of the number edging around the corner, so that was good enough for me.

 My car's odometer hitting 11111 when I crossed the Victorian border

At least my car drinks "low carb" fuel;-)

On the subject of cars, what's David Walsh doing parking in my spot?!

And as if I would have a mistress ... I like your sense of humour though David. 

MONA karaoke anyone?

It's no wonder the kids like this place so much, because it's like walking through a fairground haunted house with creepy, but sometimes Simpson-like faces on the walls.

 There are even Mickey mouse type gloves/stools in the courtyard

Not to mention all the farm-type animals walking around Ether:-)

The Rainbow Serpent

The Rainbow Serpent was one of my favourite works at MONA ... even rivaling the wall of vaginas for me.
The Rainbow Serpent and 42
I guess if they had some monologue to go with them the vaginas would have won me over;-)

MONA as seen from the Derwent River like a HobART opera house

I hope they don't give MRI scans as you get on this boat;-)

I now wish I had have caught the ferry from the Hobart city centre instead of driving here, as there is a brewery tour operating at MONA with tastings and there are plenty of bars here.
The Moo Brew is the best beer in Tasmania ... and Australia ... in my opinion, but don't take my word for it, try it yourself if you get the chance.

Moo Brew ... better than milk I reckon. Mmmm

I didn't get to drink any at MONA, but I did buy one at the Port Arthur restaurant and I had a few at other places around Tasmania when I was down there and it's the best.
And check out the story of how the label art came about by clicking on this link -
 http://moobrew.com.au/the-art/
Cheers.

A Royal Wolf shipping container at MONA

I also thought it was rather synchy that a Royal Wolf shipping container was visible in the grounds on the day I was to see 

Chelsea Wolfe play Dark Mofo that night.

Chelsea Wolfe playing Dark Mofo that night

My Pick of Dark Mofo Would Have to be Chelsea Wolfe

The word waterfall ... well that's what I call it anyway

I read in 'The Making of MONA' that the average time spent in front of the Mona Lisa in Paris is 15 seconds and that MONA (no pun intended) patrons will spend considerably more time on average in front of the MONA artworks. 
Which is true for me, especially in front of the word waterfall pictured above, as I was waiting for the words SEX and DEATH to drip out, which they didn't.
Maybe I should have called a plumber?-)

The creepy UFO like fountain in the Hobart city centre

Then I was driving back from MONA I drove past the fountain in the city centre and thought that it wouldn't look out of place in the MONA grounds, either. 

I also noticed this weirdly named bottle-shop chain when driving to MONA, 9/11?!
I'd never heard of this chain before driving past this sign, but I would see quite a few of them when walking around Hobart later on the weekend I spent there.
Maybe their opening hour are nine till eleven, or something like that?
I wonder if they sell MONA's Moo Brew? 

WARNING: These are not chocolates

I did buy some cool stuff from the MONA shop though.
I bought what I thought was some chocolate c...
Oops! I nearly had to wash my mouth out with one of them, because they are actually soaps;-)

.

Don't worry, it's just a pen

Syringe Pen

I also bought David Walsh's autobiography, which I'm looking forward to reading, as I heard he got the money to build this museum from being a successful gambler.

So, next time I come back to Hobart after reading David's book Wrest Point Casino better have heaps of cash available for me on my departure:-)  

While David may say he is an Atheist, I'm not.

And I've modified the MONA shop bags to include 0 Luv on them.

X SEX, 0 LOVE (LUV) and + DEATH

LOVE may mean nothing to most people these days, but I think it still needs to be somewhere between, if not right around SEX and DEATH.

I'm starting to see these symbols everywhere I look now, even on my browser.