Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
MIT Museum Visit: Self-Oiling Sculpture and Smashed Pianos
On Monday, my little brother Peter and I visited the MIT Museum.
I think my favorite part was the surrealist kinematic sculpture by Arthur Ganson.
This machine pours oil on itself over and over:
This one is a small model cat on a platform that moves back and forth while a chair bounces up and down on it:
This one is a small yellow chair trundling about the surface of a flat rock:
This exhibit also caught my eye. It's a telegram of congratulations from President Nixon to an MIT researcher who had just won the Nobel Prize, followed by the researcher's reply. The content of the reply? Essentially, "Glad you appreciated it. Please end the Vietnam War." I thought that was pretty great.
This exhibit commemorates the annual habit of a particular dorm: throwing a piano off the dorm's roof. The wreckage of one such piano was considered museum-worthy.
I think my favorite part was the surrealist kinematic sculpture by Arthur Ganson.
This machine pours oil on itself over and over:
This one is a small model cat on a platform that moves back and forth while a chair bounces up and down on it:
This one is a small yellow chair trundling about the surface of a flat rock:
This exhibit also caught my eye. It's a telegram of congratulations from President Nixon to an MIT researcher who had just won the Nobel Prize, followed by the researcher's reply. The content of the reply? Essentially, "Glad you appreciated it. Please end the Vietnam War." I thought that was pretty great.
This exhibit commemorates the annual habit of a particular dorm: throwing a piano off the dorm's roof. The wreckage of one such piano was considered museum-worthy.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Chihuly Exhibit at MFA
Erin, my little brother Peter, and I went to the MFA here in Boston today to see the Chihuly exhibit. It was packed; we had to wait about 1/2 hour to get in, and it was very crowded even inside the exhibit. However, it was definitely worth it. A few photos:
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Cambridge Water Works Tour
Yesterday, Erin and I toured the Cambridge Water Works. It was pretty great. Tours are led by a fellow named Tim who is extremely personable and extremely passionate about water treatment. The place has a sense of humor, too (see the signs below).
One thing that astonished me was the fact that a watershed of only 25 square miles provides sufficient water for a city of 100,000 people – that's only a little over three times more area than the city itself. You wouldn't find anything like that in the West.
One thing that astonished me was the fact that a watershed of only 25 square miles provides sufficient water for a city of 100,000 people – that's only a little over three times more area than the city itself. You wouldn't find anything like that in the West.
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