No. 04

Date of Acquisition: 23 June 2005

Location: The space between my bedroom and bathroom

Something Beautiful Happened this morning... I woke up and a thin streak of morning light pierced through my room and glanced off of my laundry hamper, it made these wonderful patterns on the floor and in my bathroom!

Milk Drinker No. 03

The other night just as I got home from work Codrin called me to tell me there was something really cool that I had to see. Something that had to do with my thesis, but I had to hurry and I had to bring my camera. I arrived at his lab on central campus and he whisked me away to the psychology department building. He quickly led me through a cavernous maze of hallways and offices until we passed through a nondescript fire door.

The door led us to a lobby and to our right was a large glass case that he pointed to. I soon realized that we were in the mathematics department and before me was this plaque:



Closer inspection revealed this name:



Milk Drinker No. 03, Ted the Unabomber.

WOW!

Ted was a genius - he won this award because only a handful of people in the world could understand his dissertation. He is an incredibly gifted talented genius mathemetician gone completely crazy. Read about him here.

I became especially interested in Mr. Kaczynski after I read a more personal account of how he lead his life in his cabin. Like other geniuses that I will introduce in the future, namely Nikola Tesla, Oliver Heaviside, et al. Ted consumed large ammounts of milk. Large meaning milk served as a either the major or primary nutrient in the diet.

Artistic Genius Highlight Du Random Jour

If you haven't seen Mark Ryden's work, you're missing out. However dark his work may seem, he always manages to inspire me. Here's a small exerpt from his artistic statment for his latest body of work "Wondertoonel", good stuff! Link

"In the same spirit as those earlier collectors filling their cabinets of curiosities, I feel compelled to collect quite a variety of things. I draw artistic inspiration from the treasures I find at the flea market. I like old toys, books, photographs, anatomical models, stuffed animals, skeletons, religious statues, and vintage paper ephemera. It is interesting how, from the endless sea of stuff out there, certain things jump out. They evoke a feeling of mystery in me and I am powerfully driven toward them. It is an obsession. I collect, arrange, and display them. Pieces from my collection end up synthesized or juxtaposed in my paintings."

- Mark Ryden

No. 003

creepy_apple
Originally uploaded by Jen Harmon.

Not sure what happened here. Never thought an apple could look so creepy.

Date of Acquisition:
7 June 2005

Location:
Codrin's Backpack

No. 002

eggcelent
Originally uploaded by Jen Harmon.

My soap landed on my scrubbie. Looked like an egg.


Date of Acquisition:
May 2005

Location:
My Bathtub

No. 001

bigbeaver
Originally uploaded by Jen Harmon.

This is not photoshop folks, it really exists.

Date of Acquisition: May 2005
Location: Troy, Michigan

Welcome to My Museum!

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is located in Culver City, CA. I learned about MJT from Robert Mangurian and Mary Ann Ray's book Wrapper, a must see for anyone who digs this sort of stuff. It has inspired much much of my work, and while I haven't been there yet, I hope to visit soon. I invite you to check them out and support them, for $20 you can get a really great catalogue of their exhibits, The Museum of Jurassic Technology, Primi Decem Anni Jubilee Catalogue, the proceeds are put directly back into the museum.

There are so many wonderful and beautiful things that get overlooked. Things that without known origin have this amazing ability to create fantastic stories, such is the spirit of MJT. So, I thought I'd set up a blog to show you the odd and interesting things I see everyday as sort of an homage to this great institution. Enjoy!