Museum of Jurassic Technology

"This place is creepy as hell," I overheard a student declare in the dark of the museum. My own impressions carried in the same direction. It was a place where weird, strange, macabre art and science history came to lay in it's final resting place, taxidermied, displayed under vintage glass bells and antiquated microscopes, and nestled in spaces carved into the shadows by weakly powered spot lights. It was a circus, meets a funeral parlor, meets an art museum, meets the History Channel, meets Maggie Taylor, meets me. I encourage anyone reading this post to visit this museum once in your life. The exhibits are unique and fascinating and I doubt you will ever see them in another location on earth. But I can't cover the entire museum. No. You'll have to run down to Culver City, Ca and discover your own delicious gross all by yourself.

One of my favorite exhibits was the Floral Stereoradiographs of Albert G. Richards. Please feel free to peruse his shots courtesy of the Museum of Jurassic Technology.

"Rose", Albert G. Richards

Just look at that. Take a breath. I know I did. I saw this and felt like I was looking at something divine and celestial. The radial undulating glowing folds mesmerize me.

The delicate texture is reminiscent of old Flemish paintings, like Van Eyck, except instead of visible light to describe a flower, Richards uses, electromagnetic waves.

It forces the viewer to see an everyday object through different eyes. Something as ordinary as a rose blossom transforms into an angelic explosion.