MONA

We're interested, but reserving judgement. We've heard varying reports, so managing expectations. Despite advice to go by the ferry, the weather is rubbish so we decide to drive. On the way up the drive we pass a couple who seem rather skeptical about the whole thing, so we proceed with caution. The grounds are wonderful, with a vineyard populated by chooks, rabbits, guinea fowl and what not.

The first sign of wankiness is in the car park, where two car spots are reserved for God and God's Mistress. However all the staff were friendly and helpful, the building was opulent and interesting, and the first piece was great, a word waterfall - mesmerising and clever, dropping lots of random words.

There's a bit of wankiness, eg. The bowl on a chair with a knife and 2 live gold fish in it. No idea what that's about. There's a bit of self deprecating humour in the commentary so it's bearable. We all enjoyed it, there are some great pieces with my favourite Artefact by Gregory Barsamian, making a statement on how we simplify complex things. It's fascinating and very cleverly made. I also like fat car, a statement on consumerism but likeable because it looks pretty cool. 

There's also some stuff we're ambivalent about,  such as the enormous range of vulvas lining the walls (the name of which is particularly fun - Cunts...and other conversations). And some we could live without seeing, like the Cloaca poo machine, which seems entirely unnecessary. And then there's hilarious stuff like On the origin of art exhibition which is in 4 rooms and is an ecclectic mix of stuff, mostly interesting. But only on entry into one room does the usher make a point of saying to everyone who enters 'be careful not to bump the sculptures', which largely consist of blow up plastic things. Really, you can see the blow up mouth pieces on them, like on beach balls. So I'm guessing she's being facetious? I'm not sure,  anyway it was fun and a worthwhile way to spend a dreary afternoon in Hobart. And we did lunch and dinner at Taste to top off the day, which you can see a bit of in the eating post.