Photography, history, politics…
Normally you would be looking at all the interesting objects that are inside the museum. And the Musée d’Orsay in Paris for sure has some impressive objects to look at. However, the look outside from within what is now a museum, but used to be a railway station, through the glass-face of a gigantic clock towards the Sacré Coeur, is no less fascinating.
The Fabricca della Ruota used to be a textile mill, situated deep into a remote north Italian valley. Today, it’s an industrial museum – quite small, but very beautiful, in its exterior as well as in its exhibitions. The peculiarities of industrial work life – such as time discipline – are depicted through a spectacular, … Read more
According to sociologists, such as Anthony Giddens and others, modernity is characterized by its reflexivity. Here is a self-reflexive museum for you: the Cité de Sciences in Parc de la Villette, Paris, reflecting itself in the silver dome of its own IMAX movie theatre. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by the science … Read more
Vaserely was born in Hungary, but lived most of his life in France, so it’s not surprising that his museum is to be found in Aix-en-Provence. Even if you’re not into op-art – which I’m not particularly – the building and the artwork form a fascinating gesamtkunstwerk. I like this particular picture, because of the … Read more
This is the sort of museum, which most museum professionals scorn. What you see in the picture are probably the only real objects in the Museum of the partisans in Dongo, Italy – the rest are faded photo copies. The texts are in Italian only, and there is dust in every corner. By its subject, … Read more
What’s in a life? Well, medicine, for instance. Like in this fascinating installation by Pharmacopoeia in British Museum. It shows the number of pills, swallowed through lifetime, by too different persons – supplemented by pictures, letters and other reminiscences of their lives. A moving and thought-provoking cross-over between art and ethnography.
Gazing through a replica of one of Tycho Brahes instruments on the island of Ven. The Tycho Brahe museum is not necessarily exceptional, but it’s nice and easy going – like the rest of this small island, which is sort of a condensed version of any tourist’s dream of the Swedish countryside. Take the ferry … Read more
This woman is without doubt the most iconic of all museum objects. Ever. Period. We all know her from innumerable reproductions. Maybe that’s why we feel such an urge to make our own, personal reproduction, when we get close to her in real life? I reproduce, therefore I exist…. I made my reproduction at the Louvre, … Read more