WanderHOBART, TASMANIA – Digging into the essence of MONA. What type of art would you consider as art and when would you consider it as art for art’s sake? We share our personal take on the Museum of Old and New Art, the pride of Hobart.
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MONA – A museum like no other
Way before I made my way to Hobart, Tasmania where MONA, Museum of Old and New Art proudly resides, I was already intrigued by the idea of it. MONA has a few claims to fame: Privately owned by a “professional gambler”, this museum requests patrons to take a ferry ride to its premises, then climb up 99 steps to access the underground arthouse, an engineering feat that costs an estimated $75-$80 million.
Within its shadowy tunnels and labyrinths of exploration, you get to witness the making of poo, a machine ingesting the most expensive and exquisite dishes served at one of its seven wine and dine establishment, faked art masquerading as Picasso, art created by the forces of wind, in-your-face showcase art such as a display of vulvas – artwork that veer from fascinating, shocking and/or thought-provoking, which may or may not be all-inclusive.
And even though the museum is not profitable (the owner claims to lose at least A$20million a year), it continues to admit Tassies (an endearing term for Tasmanians) for free. A true nod to the owner’s Tassie roots.
Just by surfing its website, you get a sense of the museum – non-apologetic, shocking for the sake of shocking, yet being extremely self-aware about it. Its’ ability to make fun of itself, amplifying ironies in life are what make Mona stand out from conventional museums. You’ve got to give credit to its blatant deviation from classic and traditional museum, beating to its own drums.
Quirky owner and professional gambler David Walsh
Love it or hate it. That’s the impression most museum-goers of MONA feel after visiting it. The museum’s existence is intricately tied to its quirky owner David Walsh. He imbues his tongue-in-cheek, at times self-mocking and hyper self-consciousness attitude towards the making of MONA and the way it is run.
In various interviews, Walsh admits to making his millions without any hard work. Clearly aware that his wealth is not accumulated through the traditionally orthodox methods such as a 9 to 5 office work, he is at the same time, crystal clear about his vision as to how MONA should look like and what sort of artwork it should contain, especially how he doesn’t want it to be run-of-the-mill.
Even on the topic of collecting art, he admitted in an interview with Jenny Valentish, “Art collectors think they collect art because they love art. But there are other deeper, non-cultural motives, like showing off, and concealing inability. It is easier to deceive oneself about the motives for collecting than it is for making, because scrutiny is avoidable”
Indeed, throughout the exhibits, it appears to me that Walsh is someone who is in his own skin, who loves the autonomy he obtains by being a private museum owner, unfrazzled by any externalities.
He continues in the same interview, “The choice I want to take away: The option to deceive yourself. You eat a steak, you should know what animal that steak is and how it lived and died. You fly on a plane (as I am now) you should know that there are dire consequences for the environment. Beyond that, MONA revels in uncertainty. We are my own private democracy.”
Visiting MONA
Having recently visited all three floors of the museum, MONA proved that there’s a place for all sorts of art. And sometimes, I’ve begun to realise, the thing we call art, need not necessarily be for its artistic merits or based on its aesthetics, but for the message that it delivers. What ultimately matters is how each artwork speaks to the individual, stirring something within.
We visited the ongoing exhibition titled Namedropping which investigates the idea of status being a part of our evolved biology. In order to truly appreciate the theme of the exhibition, it is imperative to leave your idea of a conventional museum and embrace the artwork for its messages conveyed through light-hearted self-scrutiny.
From a Fillet-O-Fish lounge that Katy Perry sat in, signed copies of original works from famous writers, musicians such as Shakespeare, Wu-Tang Clan, Prince William, Margaret Thatcher to Ai Wei Wei, there’s a famous person or item related to a famous event/personality for everyone. Hence Namedropping.
Artwork that resonates – Does MONA deserve the hype?
There were a number of exhibits that resonated with me. For example, the Fat Car, a real, life-sized attention-grabbing dazzling red Porsche convertible, that is sculpted to obesity. Sculptor Erwin Wurm critiques how society pressures us to remain thin while wooing us to consume more and more. An overweight luxury car that has lost its sleek silhouette it is known for calls for a striking visual attack on the senses.
While the Tank Project, a deflated tank, crafted out of high-grade Italian vegetable-dyed leathers in a Chinese factory that makes counterfeit luxury goods has a message to deliver. The tank, a Soviet-designed prototype used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, harkens to the sensitive topic of the Tiananmen Square incident.
The completion of the installation did not come by easy. Artist He Xiangyu made several covert visits to the army base in a bid to take the measurements of the tank by hand, an arduous process that took him four months.
Subsequently, he commissioned 35 Chinese factory workers trained in making counterfeit branded goods to stitch together 250 full-scale tanned leather hides for the exterior of the tank, and another 400 separate pieces strung together by 50,000 metres of wax string. The eventual artwork weighs over 4,000 pounds and was completed after two long years.
Does the flaccid military tank speak of the loss in status and power? The inevitability of human loss?
Is this art? MONA does it again.
Of course, for a museum with a reputation such as MONA, it would not be complete without a couple of macabre, provocative and sensational art. You get that, alot, on top of supposed art that I have problems relating to as art.
Case in point: Belgian artist Wim Delvoye’s Cloaca Professional, also known as the poo machine. A machine, which mimics the human digestive system, allows us to witness the making of excretion. This is how it works. At an appointed time, a staff member will proceed to ‘feed’ the poo machine from one of the finest dishes served at one of MONA’s exquisite restaurant, and unsuspecting museum goers will stand in crowds to see how poo is made – literally. The stench that starts pervading is unmissable.
While there’s nothing aesthetic about whirring machines and gears moving, there’s something poetic about it. I felt a tinge of waste (and perhaps envy?) when the staff announced that the machine will ‘eat’ whatever dishes the MONA restaurants happen to be serving that day.
As a patron of Faro Bar + Restaurant just an hour before, my mind immediately flitted between how delish the food was and how the beautiful presentation is lost on Cloaca. But hey, that’s the whole point isn’t it? No matter how exquisite, expensive or exciting the food we eat, don’t they all come out the same, as excrement?
Giving my imagination free rein, isn’t our bodies the same? We become ashes and return to Earth once our time here is over. Cloaca has made its point.
The art of wine and dine at MONA
Part of the experience of visiting MONA, apart from imbibing in intellectual discourse, is imbibing in its in-house drinks. We visited the light-drenched Faro Bar + Restaurant and was greeted by a man in a white lab coat. The menu was aptly named Platedropping – a direct reference to its ongoing exhibition Namedropping. This clever play of titles speaks of the museum’s cohesiveness. I had a fun time reading the menu. Check it out below.
With its floor to ceiling glass panels, patrons were able to soak up the sun’s rays as you dine by the river, as well as see waves making patterns as you wine and dine to a carefully selected mood music. As you await your drinks and food, you will be entertained by a dancer, dressed in a flowy black gown, making weird deliberate movements near you. She will be accompanied by a guitarist. At times they may come close to you while you are trying to hold a conversation with your dining partner. I thought the dance accompaniment was a little too chi-chi for my taste.
When the food arrived, it was the prettiest thing, dressed in beautiful colourful flowers, and at times accompanied with foam. While the service was amiable and the food above average, I thought the portions could have been more generous. And then I remembered, we are at a fine dining establishment for goodness sake. The purpose of consuming is for the experience, not to fill up the stomach. Right.
Devices – the bane or heart of a museum?
One of the things that stood out for MONA is where museum labels are sorely, or should I say, proudly, missing. Instead, what patrons get are in-depth interviews with the artist, backstories and even art critics take on the artwork. Accessed via the ‘O’ app, it is the museum’s way of offering “a delightful yet informative diagram to digest at your leisure.”
In today’s society where we can leave our homes without our wallet but not our smartphones, it makes perfect sense for MONA to go the route of biding adieu to traditional wall labels. In fact, it offers curators the freedom to better present an artwork in terms of space, lighting and more. Brilliant.
I already knew about the MONA app as we were informed to download it and access it via MONA’s free WiFi system while purchasing tickets online. However, I was not expecting the app to be so chockful of information. I struggled with the information overload.
In a bid to fully appreciate the artworks at MONA, I felt obliged to partake in all that was available in O. And oh, what a big mistake.
I had initially thought that the wall labels would be available in audio, and even made sure to bring my ear piece to connect to MONA’s O app. However, the bulk of the information was presented in text format with additional audio interviews for some artwork.
This to me, marks the failure of the O app. I want to look at the exhibit, admire it, delve into it, while listening and appreciating the meaning behind the artwork and hopefully form my own opinion. I definitely do not wish to spend the bulk of my limited time at MONA, in front of the artwork, head down, staring into my smartphone.
Truth be told, I struggled with it for a good half an hour, until I activated the voiceover function on my phone before calming down and trying to get back into the groove of the museum.
To visit or not to visit?
To me, a trip to Hobart without visiting the controversial museum would render it incomplete. Although I honestly do not see the artistic quality in some of the artwork, there were a number of thoughtful pieces that stirred something within me. To leave a museum and have even just one artwork resonate with me makes it a good visit. And to leave with unprecedented experiences and revelations, MONA proved it is more than just a museum.
MONA is a breath of fresh air in the art world. It is authentic and does not apologise for being part of the uppity ambience traditional museums are known for. But most importantly, MONA is a clear winner by drawing you closer to your inner truth without fussing over what is art and what is not. You, as the museum-goer gets to decide if you like it or not. Best of all, it is okay to not like it.
As Walsh rightly expressed, “Because whether you know it or not, you don’t need everyone to like your particular brand of bullshit.”
Don’t listen to naysayers or give in to the Bandwagon Effect. Give yourself a chance to find out if you are Team Love MONA or Team Hate MONA. Visit MONA today.
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Exploring Tasmania? read Tasmania: A hidden paradise of wildlife, whisky, and World Heritage Sites (2025 Guide).
