Museum of Jurassic Technology

You’ll find the Museum of Jurassic Technology, one of my favorite places, tucked into an anonymous building on Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles. 

And if do, you’ll have found one of the great must-sees for any exhibition person. 

I am not kidding. 

But the museum might be. And that’s what makes it great. 

The MJT is dedicated to the “public appreciation of the Lower Jurassic.” 

Right.

And therefore, of course, inside you’ll find exhibits about ants turned into zombies by fungus, a rare bat able to pass through solid objects, and intricate scenes carved into rice.

Some of which might be real. 

Or … not? 

But it’s no joke. The founder, David Wilson, got a MacArthur “genius grant.”

An excellent short book about it — Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology — was a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Who knew total confusion was so delightful?

Here’s the thing:
Usually, the art makes the exhibit … but sometimes the exhibit is the art. 

See you at the Museum of Jurassic Technology.

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day:
diorama. [dye-uh-RAH-ma] A realistic model of a scene, usually with three-dimensional human and/or natural figures, scenic elements, and a background mural (without a mural, it's just a model). Can be 1:1 scale, or miniature, or larger than life. Often behind glass.