The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, California is a museum spotlight
Posted on 01-02-2023 10:18 PM
The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, California is a museum spotlight
Museum spotlight: The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, CA
Venice Boulevard stretches roughly two miles between Culver City and The Palms in greater Los Angeles. Located on the corner of Bagley Avenue and Venice Avenue, the Culver City Museum of Jurassic Technology (MJT) has an odd, inconspicuous entrance at the approximate median point of the Boulevards. A marble garden wall-fountain accents its olive-green stucco facade, which stands out among the other businesses in the area. In between three sets of windowpanes, the stucco is peeling off the top of the building. In addition to the door being caged in teal-green, it will only open when visitors enter.
MJT Facade photo by Mallory Gemmel
A cramped and dark gift shop inside the MJT sells items made exclusive to, or related to, the museum, such as porcelain sculptures, 3-D View-Masters, and informational catalogues. In addition to the museum's gift shop, it houses 10-12 galleries, three levels, and even an outdoor courtyard. Exhibits in the museum galleries include dioramas, taxidermy, miniature sculptures, and more. Its exhibits are extensive and diverse, encompassing collections of materials, including a Napoleon Bonaparte library, a room devoted solely to Cats Cradle's history, and a portrait gallery of paintings that memorialize numerous Soviet dogs who were sent to space in the early 1960s. A Museum of Natural History, Science, Folklore, Anthropology, and Art, the MJT exposes a depth of odd and peripheral knowledge that most museums wouldn't consider valuable.
Soviet Space Dogs, a book by Olesya Turkina.
A non-profit educational institution, the MJT was founded in 1988 by David Wilson and his wife Diana, with the aim of advancing knowledge and the public's appreciation of the Lower Jurassic. Almost every viewer enters (and leaves) the museum asking the same question: what is Lower Jurassic technology? Visitors to this museum may never know the answer to this question; however, that's precisely what makes an encounter with the MJT unique from other museums. There are no answers provided by the MJT, and its teachings are not claimed as true.
Cats Cradle at the MJT
A graduate of the California Institute of the Arts in 1976, Wilson studied filmmaking and experimental animation. A leading curator at the MJT, Wilson's influence of cinema and animation permeates the museum's DNA. Different sources of light faintly illuminate items in the galleries. As a cinematic institution, the MJT contextualizes its exhibits through storytelling methods. There are a variety of ways in which didactic information about the history of objects and exhibitions can be conveyed, such as through sound recordings, animations, videos, and holograms. The MJT offers a unique museum experience thanks to its unusual presentation of items, the unique way in which information is transmitted, and the peculiar nature of the objects on display.
Image courtesy of MJT
Often, viewers leave museums questioning the objects' accuracy or truthfulness. MJT exhibitions are based on real moments, objects, or works of history; however, it alters the meaning and perception of their exhibits. Visitors to the MJT are unsatisfied in some part. Museums are commonly perceived to be places that present facts and history systematically. It seeks to develop viewers' understanding of archival objects and historical knowledge in lieu of providing them with concrete information, as most natural history museums do.
Plasma Magazine provides MJT installation shots
As Carol Duncan and Alan Wallach argue in their influential essay, The Universal Survey Museum, the museum's primary function is ideological. The purpose of this monument is to impress upon those who use or pass through it society's most revered beliefs and values (449). In its apparatuses, the MJT challenges viewers to contemplate the type of information and belief systems that museums are typically reliant upon. International Council of Museums proposes that museums serve society by acquiring, conserving, researching, and communicating tangible and intangible aspects of heritage and humanity for education. Culver City Museums are often subjective about what type of information they preserve, as most of their systems of presentation, preservation, and education are linked to colonial origins.
Featured image courtesy of Canadian Museum of History
By presenting unique objects, spaces, and narratives, the MJT challenges viewers' assumptions about institutions and histories. Museums are increasingly being decolonized and re-contextualized, which presents particular challenges for audiences today. A key concept of the MJT is to challenge audiences to think critically before accepting information as true, true, or true, regardless of whether it comes from a museum or a website.
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