Steampunk Exhibit and Wicked

Yesterday we attended the Steampunk exhibit at Muzeo, a small museum in a re-purposed old (1908 through 1987) library in Anaheim, CA.

You know a place is cool when there is a labyrinth outside it. This one has an monument honoring soldiers at the center. Low waterfalls near the benches were not operating, but it is easy to imagine how serene it must be.

Inside, there was a room that was dedicated to the influences of Steampunk, including Jules Verne, Edgar Allen Poe, Nickola Tesla, and Mary Shelly. Each had their likeness displayed in a frame with a bit about their work. Here is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the code he used in his popular Sherlock Holmes story "The Case of the Dancing Men", though mainly it is his Professor Challenger tales that were Steampunk influences.

There were few costumes in the exhibit, and some headgear.

 






A very large hand-painted canvas poster took up almost one wall.

Disney movies were mentioned several times. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and Time After Time were two that I can recall.

 The re-imagined weaponrs were beautiful with their filigree bits.

There was a collection of canes made by various artists. We chatted with Pete Ramirez, the creator of the Gun Lighter Cane. He said creating art like this with found objects was just an extension of his jewelry designing, which he had been doing for 15 years.

Other canes included the Doc Holliday Nut Cracker cane, the Tesla Plasma cane, Samurai Grip Handle cane, Faucet cane, Cylinder cane, and the (Citizen) Cane Time Extractor.


There was also an exhibit of Victorian art in the adjacent building, all of it on loan from a couple who must be extremely wealthy. I didn't want to aim my camera at any of the many old and delicate oil paintings, but they were beautiful, as were their frames, and several were life-size.

The same couple also collected Victorian personal effects, such as these imaginative match cases in all manner of shapes: heads, moons, animals... They were often humorous, and at the time, were considered a conversation-starter.

 The same couple also loaned their collection of 75 Victorian walking canes, like this double-skull one (they were displayed sideways.)

 The cane in this case with the bulky part on the left is made of a real human femur bone.

We also went to see Wicked, the musical, playing at the gorgeous Pantages Theater in Hollywood.

The Pantages is my favorite theater. If you ever come out to visit Hollywood, I highly recommend including this theater as part of your experience. Look at that ceiling, will you? It takes my breath away every time.

photo: Don Solosan

This is my second time seeing Wicked. I swear they must tell the actresses playing Glinda to channel Kristen Chenowith, who did play this role once. They all sound exactly like her. But then, the actor playing the Wizard of OZ this time seemed to be channeling Jimmy Stewart, and the actress playing Elphelba, the lead character who happens to be green, had the voice of Sarah Jessica Parker- which wouldn't be poor casting, either.

The set for Wicked is rather Steampunk, by the way, with lots of clock gears almost always in view as a major part of the scenery. Here's Glinda and some clockwork.

And guess what else is nearby?

Ignore the cleavage!

We also recently saw Martin Scorsese's movie "Hugo", which also was full of old clockwork.

LOVED that movie. Right now, I am betting (and hoping) it sweeps the Academy Awards. Go, Hugo!

The Mourners

This French Pleurant (Weeper) resin statue at Design Toscano reminds me of another exhibit we saw at the Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art. It was called The Mourners: Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy.



Forty small mourner sculptures from the tomb of John the Fearless, second duke of Burgundy, were on display,  in different poses conveying mourning or consoling other mourners, but all dressed similarly. These pieces have been on display in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, France for almost 200 years, but are now on tour because that museum is being rennovated.

 Most are faceless, and rather eerie. I can imagine full-sized versions of these in a yard on Halloween.

John the Fearless's tomb, including these mourner figures, was completed following his death under the supervision of his son, Philip the Good.
If I were born in that time, I know my name would end with "the Weird."

The walls of the room holding the exhibit told the story.

One wall explained that funerals of that time "were lavish events that included black drapes and canopies, a golden drapery over the coffin, presentation of the insignia of the deceased duke’s power (his banners, weapons, and horses), and candles and music in abundance. Hooded black cloaks were distributed to all the participating laypersons, from the members of the duke’s family on down to pages and grooms, while the members of the secular and regular clergy wore the garments of their station. The carriages and horses were also draped in black....

...Class distinctions, normally expressed through dress, became temporarily suspended, the black of mourning reminding all present that death was an experience shared by everyone. "

These carved figures are obviously all in white, but that's probably because black marble was hard to obtain.

When the property where the tomb was located was sold off as national property in 1792, "the tombs were kept for the nation because of their historical value. The mourners had always been perceived as the tomb’s key attraction, and they were felt to possess a 'correctness' of style and modeling rare for the Gothic period." So forget the dead body- the mourners are the key attraction. That's a bit sad.

For more information on The Mourners, click here. 

In another building of the museum, we found sculptures that were FAR less intriguing, other than causing us to wonder how they could have possibly have been deemed credible enough to warrant being placed inside a museum. For example, there was the giant litter box full of clean kitty litter: 

Now that is some crappy art. It reminds me of this cartoon:

Then there was this ingenious painting, shown on the wall with its title card:

This 24x18 inch wonder is by Robert Therrien.
No Title (Blue Oval), 1994
Screenprint on spiral-bound acid-free paper and mixed mediums.

I researched it. The artists says: “Blue oval; all is a mirror, a female apogee, my mother.  Because of the edges, which recede toward the wall and create a shadow, from a distance it seems to float, and because of the paint, it seems solid or hollow.  This shows one aspect of the figure-ground play I’m looking for.”

Really? It just reminds me of a blue dot. And an episode of  the 1980's TV show  "Bosom Buddies" where Tom Hanks's character, Kip Wilson, sees a painting of a red dot that is highly regarded by art critics, and disgustedly exclaims  "It's the flag of Japan!"

 Someone is even selling a t-shirt with those immortal words:

The shirt designer and I are probably the only two people on earth that remember that episode :)

This thin glass case looked like there should be a poster in it. There's even a pushpin laying in the case. It looks like the cases in the halls of my old high school. But guess what? It's art. The museum's docent told me it was a work of "deconstructionism."

At least there was this cool, interactive, large piece of art outside:

during the day the noodles gain energy, and they glow in the dark at night.

And as everybody knows, if it glows in the dark, it's good art!

Skull Waterfall

We saw this skull waterfall on display at the Los Angeles County Fair, and it was instant love! The vendor is The Waterfall Company, based in La Puente, California.


An man standing nearby lends perspective as to the size of the skull

 The skull's eye sockets had recessed multicolor LEDs lighting up the water.

LED lights inside an eye socket

 There was also a mist-maker to create a fog effect and more multicolor LEDs inside the big basin.

 The signs on it indicate that the cost for Skull Falls is $2,999 installed and $500 down would lock in that price.

  Just think, you could have something like Skull Rock and the waterfalls in Disneyland's Fantasyland back until the rock's removal in 1982 during a major remodel of the area:

At night, it was lit from within with green lights, and green lights highlighted the foliage in the area.

A similar one now resides in Disneyland Paris with a less dramatic fall of water:

This is Skull Mountain, which has a massive skull waterfall at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey:

photo by Gary Burke

Try using a skull as part of a grotto near your pool:

photo: Arizonafallslv.com

photo: arizonafallslv.com

 Click here to see a bit of how that last skull was made. 

I imagine a skull water feature would look just as good near a koi pond, too.

Evil Red-Eyed Gnomes

   Want to bring a happy little garden gnome over to the dark side?  An attitude adjustment can be had just by the addition of eerily glowing red eyes. Instructions here at Hack-a-day.

Gnombies -The Zombie Gnomes

The Gnombies are coming! The Gnombies are coming! Coming October 7, 2011, that is.
Pre-order your very own zombie gnome today at thegnombies.com.

Regular-size Gnombies are 20" tall by 14" wide, and a mini size gnome zombie is 6" tall. Gift certificates, stickers and t-shirts are available as well.

You may also enjoy my previous posts about skeleton gnomes (click here and here to view them)