Event 3: Museum of Jurassic Technology

The Museum of Jurassic Technology houses various eccentric exhibits and after spending some time trying to figure out what to focus on, I found an exhibit that truly highlights the intersection of Math + Art.

[Image 1: Entrance of the Museum]

MY EXPERIENCE:

Upon opening at noon, a friend and I went to explore this museum. It may seem small from the outside, but there is so much to see. I especially enjoyed how the art could be seen from different perspectives and there were multiple ways to view the exhibits just by shifting your orientation or by looking through equipment.

When you think of Jurassic Tech, I was thinking I would walk into a big open area with huge technological machinery, but most machines consisted of microscopes.

The exhibit that most fascinated me and also reminded me of our Math + Art unit explored the world of Theater Mechanics.

An example of this can be seen through “Periaktoi” which is ancient theatrical device by which a scene or change of scene was indicated.

[Image 2: Periaktoi Mechanism]

This mechanism consists of multiple prisms, most of the time made of wood. This scene-changing device replaced the medieval practice of showing background scenes by moving a series of carts in front of a stationary audience.

Another art piece in this exhibit focused on the importance and the art of how to place the Prince’s seat. Although I could not take a picture of this piece, I made sure to note the meticulous strategy behind the seating arrangement:

“Choose a location as near as possible to the point of distance, and elevated sufficiently from the floor of the hall so that when seated, his eye will be as high as the vanishing point, for all the objects in the scene appear better from that position than from any other place…”

Additional pieces included directions and diagrams on how to imitate thunder, and how to represent a river that seems to flow constantly.

[Image 3: Diagrams drawn by me]

Overall, it was a very unique museum and I was glad to find glimpses of Math + Art in the exhibit mentioned here. I would recommend going at least once since it is not a far drive away from UCLA and it is nothing like a museum you have attended (with an exception of Ripley’s Believe it or Not). There were multiple instances of confusement, but I felt that it kept things interesting and I remained curious.

[Image 4: Outside the Museum]

[Image 5: Gift Shop]

**DISCLAIMER** this museum does not allow photography or phone use and when I asked the staff member at the front if he could take a picture with me, he said he would prefer not being in the picture and recommended I take a picture with items in the gift shop

WORKS CITED:

McManis, Sam. "Take L.A.'s Museum of Jurassic Technology with a Grain of Salt." Sacbee. N.p., 14 Oct. 2012. Web. 17 May 2015.

"Museum of Jurassic Technology - Introduction & Background." Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.mjt.org/intro/genborch.htm>.

"Periaktos | Ancient Theatrical Device." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 17 May 2015.

Rothstein, Edward. "Where Outlandish Meets Landish." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 Jan. 2012. Web. 17 May 2015.

"Theatre Tips." Producing Theatre with Schools. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015.