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Garden Design

Review: MONA – it lost me at the gate

Catherine Stewart

Catherine Stewart

March 3, 2015

As we left the internationally acclaimed Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart, Tasmania, Tony said “Well that’s 2 hours of my life I’ll never get back“. What went wrong? I’d arrived at MONA with high expectations (in truth, more than he had) and recommendations from friends who had loved their visit. But I think that MONA has some serious flaws, starting with site layout, signage and landscape design.

My MONA story is a case study of how an entry landscape design, signage and layout can really influence, or prejudice, a person’s experience of a place. The overall design can say ‘welcome’ and ‘you belong here’, drawing a visitor in and enhancing everything about their time there. When you feel a valued part of something, you’re much more likely to forgive problems or any disappointments.

On the other hand, that entry landscape can communicate ‘I don’t care about you‘ and ‘you don’t belong here‘, either deliberately or inadvertently. I’m still unsure about whether MONA is deliberate about it or not but, given the ego of its founder and owner David Walsh, I suspect it is.

Several of the people I knew who’d been to MONA had said that it’s best to arrive by ferry from Hobart city but we’ve done ferry trips along the Derwent before. Added to that we already had a hire car and were staying a distance out of Hobart so we’d have had to find somewhere in the city to leave it for the afternoon. Possibly not usually a problem but with the wonderful biennial Wooden Boat Festival in full swing, the city was hoaching, and car parking at a premium.

The ferry ride costs $20 per person, whether it’s one way, or return. On top of the entry ticket (non-Tasmanians pay), that would make for an expensive afternoon for two, so we opted to drive and park. We had to park outside the site which was fine, as it was a lovely day and an easy and pleasant walk up the tree-lined avenue. Well it’s an easy walk until the path, which is on the left hand side of the road inexplicably stops, and you face your first obstacle.

MONA – end of the entrance avenue but where to go now?

 

The driveway forks, and the sign doesn’t tell you which way to go to MONA, which you’d think was most people’s preferred destination. We pondered. Up and left to ‘P’, or right to disabled ‘P’ and ‘Deliveries’? Although we could see a building up to the left, something about the road looked a little more industrial, so we opted for the right.

MONA - second decision point

 

A little further on, there was another fork in the road and a second unhelpful selection of options, with a disabled ‘P’ and ‘Deliveries’ to the left, and a Loading Dock apparently down to our right. The driveway up and to our right is …hmmm…unknown or unnamed. But I can see there’s a change of paving surface along that right hand driveway and that looks a little bit more ‘entry-like’? Maybe? OK, let’s go right.

We passed one building on our right but it didn’t look big enough to be MONA. I hear that it is the Administration building and has a small printed sign on it saying ‘This is not the Museum of Old and New Art’. Now that’s helpful.

 

 

Continuing on past some raised garden beds filled with a curious selection of conifers, we arrive at an amazing sculpture – a semi-trailer that’s carrying a truck and it’s all made out of rusting iron ‘lace’. Wow. Then there’s the steel blade fence, which ‘wuthers’ appealingly as strong gusts of wind blow through it. Cool! But where’s MONA?

MONA Steel 'lace' trucks

MONA Steel ‘lace’ trucks

 

 

I can see a building some 30m off, but it has no sign on it, just featureless black doors. And directly in front of us is, perplexingly, is a full-sized tennis court – net, lights and all.

MONA - walkway and tennis court

MONA – walkway and tennis court

MONA - a queue to something...

MONA – a queue to something…

 

As we approach the tennis court we see that to the right of the tennis net there’s a large queue of people waiting for something that’s down some stairs to the right of the building. Is it to get in to MONA?

I check the sign before the tennis court. The arrow pointing to the building says ‘Toilets’ and the arrow up the stairs to ‘Reception’ and a ‘Function Centre’. Ahh, we think, those people must be queuing for something else as MONA is up the stairs.

But no. Up the stairs is a large building but there’s a market on behind it and no sign of a MONA, not even for our ready money. But we do find MONA owner David Walsh’s car (a brand new Tesla). We know it’s his because his car space is clearly marked ‘Reserved GOD’. How amusing! And to the right of it is partner Kirsha Kaechele’s car space, marked ‘Reserved GOD’S MISTRESS‘. The feminist in me bridles instantly at a woman accepting being described in terms of what she is to her man.

GOD's car space

Of course, you're supposed to read the reverse side of the sign

Of course, you’re supposed to read the reverse side of the sign

 

Turning back, we decide we’d better get on that queue, as that must be it.

But no. That turns out to be a queue for the return ferry. And then we see that on the reverse of the sign there’s a different list. Now we find that on the far side of the tennis court and through the unmarked doors appears to be a whole host of other things, including the Museum of Old and New Art. Eureka! I’m still a bit hopeful it will be exciting. Well, we’ve only be wandering about for 15 minutes and, even though it’s Tasmania, today it’s not raining.

We cross the tennis court, the black doors open on our approach and Lo! inside the doors it says proudly, MUSEUM OF OLD AND NEW ART.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe enter the building and are confounded again. There are several desks, each is staffed and each has people at them. But again there are no signs. Is one information and the others tickets? How much are the tickets? By now, we’re getting tired of guessing.

A 30-something man comes up to us and says ‘Hello, here you are at MONA!’ I reply that we don’t know where to buy our ticket and he smiles and gestures vaguely, saying ‘Anywhere!’ At this desk? ‘Sure!’ Why are there no signs to, or for, anything? “Well it is a private museum you know’, he says conspiratorially. (We are nonplussed about what difference that makes). But how is anyone supposed to know how to find their way in and where to go? We arrived by car and have been wandering around for 15 minutes with no idea how to find what we came for. Why are there no signs to MONA anywhere?? Can you explain to us how this is supposed to work?

The hipster ‘guide’ with his bare ankles, bushranger beard and carefully curled tash looks us up and down, says dismissively ‘Oh you’ll work it out‘, turns on his heel, and walks away.

MONA - Rivers of Fundament

MONA – Rivers of Fundament

 

At this point I am ready to swear quite loudly in the main foyer and turn around and walk out. MONA obviously doesn’t want the likes of us as its patrons. We don’t belong. But here we are and we won’t be back so we buy 2 tickets for $25 each, a special higher-than-normal price for the special exhibition of Matthew Barney’s ‘Rivers of Fundament’ and descend to the depths of MONA.

The internal architecture is astonishingly wonderful with a mix of cavernous and small spaces, golden sandstone and interesting passageways. However, sadly, ‘Rivers of Fundament’ is pretentious rubbish. (Think a partly consumed and now-rotting suckling pig carcass inside a glass display case. And no, that’s not my evaluation, it’s an actual exhibit.) And maybe the best MONA exhibits had been removed temporarily for Barney’s stuff, but I found little to interest me. I knew that MONA is touted to be all about sex and death, and had expected some worthwhile observations about both so I was surprised that most of it just reflects a preoccupation with bits of bottoms and their various purposes. Which, to me, isn’t sex.

I’ve been to two Sydney Biennales, and one in Venice, as well as the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art on many occasions. Each in its own way has been unforgettable and I have been confounded, confronted, entertained and delighted. But not at MONA.

But maybe that’s because MONA had lost me before I’d even got inside it.

Is this a new style of ‘generationist’ landscape designing? Maybe I am being discounted (and potentially discarded) because, unlike a GenX or GenY patron, I want to be advised and guided. I like reading instructions and maps and following signs. I like clear, shortest route pathways to where I want to go. Rather than pinging about the MONA site, like the intuitive style that a younger person brings to interacting with information technology where everything is clicked seemingly randomly until something works, I want to know and be able to make an informed decision about something before I begin.

 

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Azz
Azz
9 years ago

MONA is an amazing wonderful place, we have been there many times, making special trips to Tasmania to visit.
I’m not sure what you expect from the world Catherine, but I know you don’t belong at MONA. Best you head back to where ever it is you come from to the safety of home.
Our ten year old gets MONA, its not that hard……….. sorry, I’m not going to share that with you. I can hear David Walsh laughing as he reads your review.

Sarah Kirsch
Sarah Kirsch
4 years ago

Hi Catherine, I left MONA today with a weird, and slightly grubby, feeling of paying homage to a bit of a dolt – being the owner / curator… Hard to navigate, monotonous spaces, self-important descriptions in the O device, but worst of all: boring, male-centric art. And throughout several levels a smell that I can only describe as “post vaccination nappy”.

Azz
Azz
9 years ago

Hey, sorry, I agree. Bad form on my part. I am glad you did post it though.
As I said, we have been many times to MONA since it opened.
I guess what I love about the place is the lack of signs, for me its asking to be explored. I love there isn’t direction to go here, be there, don’t touch this, think like this.
Enter the grounds, be engulfed. Each time I have been, something new has been discovered.
When I go to IKEA, I take all the short cuts to the end and then come backwards through the store, you see another side of the place then.

David Walsh is an interesting man, I highly encourage everyone to read his autobiography. I am not sure to be disturbed by this person or enlightened. I do know I like what he has done at MONA and for Tasmania in general.

David wanted the museum to be free for all to visit, the cost to non Tasmanians was forced upon him, the Tasmanian government were (understandably) worried he could not fund this without the public paying to enter.

I guess what I don’t like about your review is that it attacks my way of thinking, I choose to stay away from places that have signs & rules. We choose to have art, things & stuff where we like it. Chaos in a regulated world.

Sorry I took your words personally. 🙂

Kim
Kim
8 years ago

Some visitors seemed to have a quasi-religious attitude to Mona. I wonder if that is because Mona is rather veiled in what it does. The collection doesn’t seem substantial, despite the Nolan and the Turrell, both of which stand out optimistically in isolation from the rest. The visitor has to overcome the revulsion of the senses. The exterior is inhospitable – the forbidding stairs, the suburban backyard, the rushing wind, the draughty, 1960s Roy Grounds house, which closes well before the last ferry. Then, the stunning gallery building is like another world. Perhaps the religiosity steps in because Mona is obscure.

two engaging goldens
9 years ago

I went to MONA 12 months ago, arriving by car. The entry seemed a bit strange but I was expecting anything but normal. It was a fun day and I actually enjoyed having the mobile device instead of having to jostle to read the signs beside the exhibits and it was good to receive the email with all the exhibits noted therein that I had liked with descriptions, etc. For someone with a bad memory, it was a nice touch. As we left there were chooks milling around the vineyards, another quirky touch. Gardens totally uninspirational. Joy

Silas Clifford-Smith
9 years ago

Just back from Tasmania and my first visit to MONA. Sadly, I was disappointed by the collection on view. The grounds were not outstanding but my interest was with the art not the garden.

Brendan
Brendan
7 years ago

I’m not a huge fan of modern art, much of it seems too try-hard, but I have been to a few well-known modern art museums: Pompidou, Tate Modern, Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, and now MONA. I rated Pompidou as the best until I visited MONA. I found it an incredible experience – very different to Pompidou in many ways but I thought some of the works at MONA a big step above anything I saw at Pompidou.

Yes the signposting is poor outside the gallery, but we just parked where it said “P” and walked in the general direction of the buildings. We found the front door without taking any wrong turns, even though it is not obvious and the tennis court immediately outside it is a somewhat bizarre juxtaposition. But who am I to judge the quirkiness of it all. Pretentious perhaps, but does every gallery have to follow an identikit formula, not daring to require visitors to tax their minds just a little bit, but instead lead them like sheep?

The interior of the gallery was extraordinary. The idea of building it almost entirely below ground level, carved into sandstone (which must have cost a fortune), is I think inspired given the nature of the exhibits. I loved the architecture of it all.

The electronic guide, rather than signs and labels, I thought totally suited the experience and added new twists such as the ability to vote on each display, hear interviews with the artists, and read the self-deprecating “art wank” reviews or Gonzos, none of which you can do with a static sign.

Sure plenty of the works are weird, off-putting or simply not to my taste, but I’m not so arrogant as to expect that I should like everything there. If something was not for me I quickly moved on. But the works I did like I found breathtaking and unlike anything I have seen anywhere else on the planet.

Michael McCoy
9 years ago

Wow. I’ve never heard anything but gushing praise for MONA. I’ll make sure I arrive by ferry.

As much as I’d like to retrace – and thus confirm the frustrations of – your journey, it makes for a pretty expensive sneer, doesn’t it…

Richard
Richard
6 years ago
Reply to  Michael McCoy

Should mention the many, many steps it is necessary to climb when arriving and leaving.
I was issued with a small computer tablet as my guide. Impossible to read!
I certainly did not feel that visitors were made to feel welcome.

landscapelover
9 years ago

Catherine, I feel your frustration! Signage generally fascinates me and, as you say, poor signage can so easily make us feel unwelcome and unwanted. But goodness me, do you really think this guy has commissioned an entrance landscape that actively seeks to discourage and alienate large numbers of visitors?

Surely you can be quirky and modern without being so high-handed you just appear incompetent…

Anne Latreille
9 years ago

Haven’t been to MONA since its first year of opening. I found it underwhelming on entry – so do agree with much of your response to the place – and overwhelming within. Some exhibitions wonderful, some a bit confronting or boring. I guess that is art galleries …. It’s a pity that there wasn’t a more positive or interested response from the guy near the entry desks!

jannaschreier
9 years ago

I arrived by car. I got lost. I got frustrated. I did think it improved after that though!

Patrick
Patrick
9 years ago

David Walsh’s MONA is his folly, not yet another tourist experience for the well-heeled to tick off their list. Anyone who visits expecting to be kowtowed to is in for a shock.

Danielle
Danielle
9 years ago

If it makes you feel any better, I’m Gen Y and I won’t be going back. I was underwhelmed.

Anne Wareham
9 years ago

Sounds awful! Xxxx

Teresa
Teresa
8 years ago

Same happen to us today. We could not find the entrance.

Scott
Scott
6 years ago

You seem very uptight Catherine ! Thought provoking artistic experience, an architectural triumph, great food and wine…laying around in the afternoon autumn sun on beanbags talking about art. Its fun….

Alena
Alena
2 years ago

Hi Catherine,
Your experience pretty much sums up the experience my husband and I had too. We are 23 and despite our age – did NOT understand or appreciate Mona. Not the lay out and not the art. There’s a lot more I could say but I’m still recovering from the headache – thanks Mona.

Azz
Azz
9 years ago

ps I stumbled upon your blog by chance, I have since read a few of your other pieces. It seems we have a lot in common, just not a love for MONA 🙂

Amanda Mackinnon
9 years ago

Being a Tasmanian who hadn’t been to MONA until just recently, I must say I was also disappointed Catherine. We did go on the ferry, and that was actually the best part of the day!
I was waiting expectantly to be wowed, and indeed was fully appreciative of the building, however the contents of the museum in combination with how they were presented left me wanting a lot more.
I didn’t like the lack of signage within the museum itself and the need to constantly have my head stuck in the handheld electronic reader – bring back comprehensive signage I say! Maybe I am old school. There was clearly a lot if interesting historical exhibits there, however I didn’t go there to keep flicking across screens to read about it. I wanted to be wowed by the presentation of the information in front of me.
Yes, ‘art’ is in the eye of the beholder, but I didn’t find too much there for me I must say.
We were also looking forward to a nice relaxing lunch and the cafe was way too small for the crowd on the day and inadequate seating.
So i hear you!

brownthumbgardener
brownthumbgardener
9 years ago

My partner and I visited Mona via car about 18 months ago and parked in the disabled spot next to Reserved GOD. Both GOD and GOD’s mistress were elsewhere so it presented a nice photo opportunity. David Walsh has a wicked sense of humour and MONA is designed to confront. After all, there are steps leading away from the disabled parking. It is madness and wonderful. I seem to recall that there was the services of a golf-cart to take you to the entrance if you required.

The tennis court is strange and you are right, the entrance is not the least obvious but we found the security staff very helpful and also the staff. We were given a discount so I expect pricing is a little flexible. It is in the nature of the unusual and, I think quite wonderful for this day and age, beast that is David Walsh.

The layout of the place is wonderful and confusing at the same time. The space amazing and the art varies from fairly conventional to very confronting – as I would have expected. Yes, we got lost and you have to do a lot of walking, but there was also a lot of joy in the process.

I accept the quirkiness of the place; it is very much part of the experience. My only complaint was that the cafe was too small to cater for number of people that wanted to use it.

My only regret was that we did not have more time to spend there. A second visit is on the cards.

Pat Webster
9 years ago

I was looking forward to visiting MONA, having heard so many good things about it. I was eager to see innovative art that sparked controversy and encouraged debate, but that’s not what I discovered. The building is interesting and I like the way it huddles into the earth but the exhibits inside were a great disappointment. Mostly pretentious and without substance.
Re: the landscaping and how it welcomes or discourages you: the approach from the parking lot wasn’t too confusing and some of the artwork outside made me even more eager to enter. I had been told about the ‘across the tennis court’ entrance so I knew where to go. But like the exhibits, this entrance makes no sense (ok, sometimes senseless can be fine in and of itself) but rather demonstrates a fake kind of ‘cool’ attitude to art and those who visit the museum. Is this entrance meant to suggest an attitude towards art — a back and forth battle for supremacy? That’s juvenile, in my opinion. Real debate isn’t founded on confrontation but on a desire to understand a different point of view.

Andrew
Andrew
8 years ago
Reply to  Pat Webster

It’s someone’s private collection they’ve been generous enough to share.
As for landscape – I’ve worked in galleries for much of my adult life (I moved from Melbourne recently specifically to work at MONA so I may be biased) and I’ve not encountered any others built into a cliff above a river at the top of a vineyard. Walking to work is a pleasure.

I love the fact that in a world where everything has to be spelt out by intrusive signage (which people still miss or misread anyway) that we can be trusted to think independently enough to find the front door.

You found a sculpture and a queue. You knew you were close.

Each to their own on the collection. I like some art and find it inspiring, other stuff leaves me cold. Same with MONA but what it does have going for it is a different approach which enabled me (first time I visited) to engage with each piece on its own level intimately. Free of didactics, labels, instructions, interpretations (they were busy and had run out of O devices) I just had to look, think and feel for myself. Most galleries I’m in and out in an hour or so (size dependent somewhat). MONA was a whole day and I still missed bits.
I think MONA is beautiful, well designed, intriguing and exciting and I and many other people from the apple isle and elsewhere are very glad it exists. That ranges in my experience from artists and curators to local taxi drivers, CEOs of small Catholic Heritage Centres and strangers on the street.

Sorry you didn’t enjoy it, hope you visit again one day with different expectations. The exhibits change very regularly by the way – Barney was not permanent collection but one of their 2 annual ‘big’ international exhibitions. Currently it’s Marina Abramovic so best to check out such artists before visiting a major exhibition. Not everything can be everyone’s tea of choice at the same moment. Many things are not mine.

Andrew
Andrew
8 years ago

No worries. Art is many things to many people, galleries only present it in the best way they see fit.
MONA works for me and many others but there are many things that work for many others that don’t work for me.
Diversity makes life wonderful.

Auty Davis
Auty Davis
9 years ago

consider the lack of signage in the landscape as a direct corollary of how people on the spectrum find themselves feeling when among normals

Catspot Quoll
Catspot Quoll
9 years ago

Hi Catherine, I certainly smiled at your reaction!

I’m off to Tas again soon, but MONA has never been on my list because I’ve heard and read quite a bit about it, none of which has appealed – the dead pig!! What ghastly sight – I’ve seen one in a paddock…

I’m keen on art and visit galleries wherever and whenever I can.
Nobody tells me what’s ‘cool’ – that tired old contrivance – especially not a bearded hipster turning away on his booted heel. Or a maths whiz who calls himself God…

Kim
Kim
8 years ago

Catherine, I’m very sorry to hear that you have received such answers. It is essential to the art world that art and galleries may be critiqued. Best Regards.

Dusty
Dusty
7 years ago

Just back from Hobart and a visit to MONA. Nothing has improved by the sound of it. It’s still hard to decide where to go and when you do get there you’re confronted by indifferent artwork and cacophonous noise. Would not recommend MONA but White Rabbit in Sydney, now that’s different.

Brendan
Brendan
7 years ago

Thanks for your reply. I use the word “judge” in its classical sense, of someone who has training and credentials in a given field of endeavor, delivering informed critique of the work of others in that field. That is different to liking or not liking something. I like some buildings and dislike others, but that does not mean I could judge an architecture award. Equally, I know what art I like, but that doesn’t mean I could judge the Archibald.

Hence my statement “But who am I to judge the quirkiness of it all” is honest, recognising I am neither architect nor artist. It’s a shame that today there is a deficit of respect for people who do have real credentials and expertise, often pejoratively dismissed as “elites”, and instead there is a culture of everyone’s opinion is valid and everyone can “judge”.

So no, it is not a failure of MONA’s mission that I am not in a position to judge its quirkiness. But I, as anyone else, can like or dislike elements of it, and that is entirely different.

And if you could take one look at me, you would immediately see I am no hipster! I did not feel intimidated or excluded by MONA, I was energised by it!

yasira
yasira
6 years ago

my comment has more to do with what they call “Art” a poor goldfish swimming in a tiny plate with a knife, normalization of cruelty I would call it and this year 2017 the owner of the museum is supporting an “Artist” that performs a ritual sacrifice of a bull and people is so enraged here in Tasmania that they have to do it in secrecy just like the Satanist would perform their rituals, normalization of cruelty, I recommend to anyone that believes in peace, love, sanity and human values to stay away from this place

Sean
Sean
6 years ago

Could not agree more.
It was over-priced ($28) pretentious badly organised crap.
There is 10x more to see at the average state gallery.
I do not understand how this garbage is ranked at the top of the list of things to see in Hobart. Is this some kind of conspiratorial practical joke that is played on unsuspecting tourists?
It is free for taswegians and at that price is maybe worth a look but $28… give me a break.
It was a waste of half of the only day I had to see Hobart on the tour.

Yarushka
Yarushka
6 years ago

I visited Mona and was disappointed with the art exhibits, however, it was stated that many American “artists” are unrecognised…that explained many things to me.
Paying such a high fee surprised me, especially when l compared what l have seen in St Petersburg’s, ltaly, Spain, England, Germany. France, Hungary …to name a few.
‘Tis true, art is in the eyes of a beholder, in Mona l tried very hard to be inspired, to look at many exhibits with an ‘open heart’, but, despite a few, l have wasted my time. Will not recommend this gallery to anyone…sorry modern ‘art lovers’.

Mike Anderson
Mike Anderson
6 years ago

Simply amazing! Best thing in Hobart. A must see for any tourist. Well done David. We will be back. Rach and Mike

Isobel
Isobel
5 years ago

Catherine, you are far from alone in your opinions. In fact, there are many, many Tasmanians who think both David Walsh and Mona are ghastly!! Not to mention Dark Mofo…

Pro Landscaping Hobart

Nice blog! Thank you for sharing this blog.

Sharon
2 years ago

An interesting museum, no doubt! We visited MONA last year but with only limited trip hours so wasn’t really able to tour the area enough. Will definitely check it out again this year!

Peter
Peter
9 years ago

MONA is trying a little too hard to be something its not. It’s in Tassie for goodness sake, not Manhattan! I was disappointed but I guess for Tassie its something new

Gay Messer
Gay Messer
7 years ago
Reply to  Peter

As if Tassie can’t have something that is the best in the World! Which MONA is. Catherine’s review just reflects on her, not on MONA. Push the boundaries Catherine and get out of your comfort zone!

Lyndal Powderly
Lyndal Powderly
3 years ago

Hi Folks,
For 10 years I have wanted to see MONA!
I went to MONA today! I was welcomed by three friendly staff on the road and directed where to park. Easy.
I purchased my ticket at 11am and was told my entry was at 1pm and that there was a 12MD music concert and lunch available.
I walked up the pathway and experienced exactly the same confusion. Ending up at the restaurant I told the staff that the signs were terrible..she passed it off and told me where to go. I wandered around like a lost lamb feelIng very uncomfortable and asked someone where on earth was the entry and the food court while thinking all along..’this place is crazy’! Feeling unearthed, uncomfortable, annoyed..MONA had already evoked a taste of what was ahead.
Expect the unexpected, be uncomfortable and not comfortable….this crazy place ‘got me’, ‘tricked me’ ..whatever!
The atmosphere on the lawned areas plonked in bean bags was fun! Sipping cold pressed coffee and soaking up the sun and mostly dissonant guitar riffs on multiple loopers was the prelude that set the scene for my MONA experience.
I liked it! ‘Crazy’ good! It challenged my thinking, it was confronting, it included exhibits across multiple disciplines such as art, music, science, technology, history, psychology..you name it. There was something for everyone. The building’s architecture is totally an artwork in itself.
I didn’t even know about the app, so I was free to discover, interpret and view as I uncomfortably lost myself on every floor.
This place is truly designed to challenge the viewer in every way possible, evoke every human emotion and make you process material that is mostly confrontational. Solving the problems is the challenge.
MONA got you..and me too!
I loved it!
Thanks Hobart for something really different in a world class, state of the art, Gallery!
Lyndal Jane

Karen Shaw
Admin
3 years ago

Hi Lyndal. We are glad you enjoyed MONA, thanks so much for letting us know your thoughts. Karen

Peta Trahar
9 years ago

Love MONA, love Hobart and love my home state. Can’t wait to get back. ASAP.

Zoé
9 years ago

Catherine your writing sizzles with your frustration! And rightly so – what woman would ever want to access a place with a parking bay for G’s Mistress? Hullooooo – for thee and me I suspect nothing less than Goddess would suit! Top marks for well-written honesty.

Barbara Dyer
Barbara Dyer
7 months ago
Reply to  Zoé

August 2023 – Catherine – what a mixed bag of comments. I’ve just bought our tickets to MONA (and Hobart) for next month. If nothing else these opinions make me eager to see what the fuss is about. I think I’ll enjoy it because of this analogy: Take a smorgasbord of food and many will go straight for the familiar and reject anything new. Others (I) would put a mix of new and familiar foods on their plate and we may well push new food to the side finding the taste or texture unpleasant. So – do we stop trying new foods on a smorgasbord because some of it tastes like crap ? Do we play it safe and stick with only what we like? Nope. We keep spending money on buffets and we keep trying new foods because it’s in some people’s nature to keep trying new things despite disappointment or even revulsion. It’s not about the food or the art; we will like some and the rest might disappoint. It’s not about the result, it’s about the experience. I can’t wait for my MONA experience (going by ferry).

Last edited 7 months ago by Barbara Dyer