Coming to Life
Not knowing what to expect from my visit to the Museum of Natural History made my experience very peculiar. I was actually uncertain on whether I was going to find some form of art at the museum or not, since I have not been there for the last three years, and I barely recollect anything from my past visits. However, I decided to go for it since I had nothing to lose, except for some time. As I went from one floor of the museum into another, I realized that I had uncovered a unique form of art – one in which realism, created out of artificial objects and materials, is highly appreciated.
Well, the art that I experienced in the Museum of Natural History had nothing to do with paintings or galleries. Instead, I was fascinated by the realism that the different forms of natural life (plants, animals, and humans) portrayed. When I first set feet into the Milstein Hall of Ocean, it felt like I was being transported to the very depths of the oceans. Even though I was walking normally, as opposed to swimming, I was still able to associate with the ocean life. Because the room was dark and the background of most exhibitions presented vivacious colors of blue, I really thought that the artificially-made animals and the entire aquatic ecosystem came to life. I even tried to touch the aquatic species with my hands; however, I would come to realize that I was in a museum, after feeling the cold and glassy windows in the tip of my nose.
This particular hall of the museum struck a peculiar chord in me. Being rejected from the aquatic life a couple of times by the glassy windows of exhibitions and feeling my nose numb, I still did not give up. I just stood closely at every exhibition and examine meticulously at every single detail of the landscape, and said to myself, “Wow! How did these museum people made everything look so realistic. These guys must be damn nice!” After carefully inspecting most of the exhibitions, I realized that the backgrounds in them were painted on the walls, while the animals and plants were presented three-dimensionally. Above all, I loved the texture of the artificial water; it was not simply transparent but it also presented bubbles, thickness, and assorted colors, just like the real ocean water. Only wished I could have smelled the water.
When I finished peeking around at the Milstein Hall of Ocean, I headed towards the Hall of Human Origins. Over there, the intricate details of those artificially-made humans astounded me. The people who made them did not miss a single detail, not even a muscle or eyebrow. So, I wondered how they accomplished such difficult task. As a result, I ended up watching a video in which scientists were doing a thorough research in order to come up with the exact details for the physical features of the humans from that given historical period. After watching the film, I finally understood that it was in fact a very slow, lengthy and painstaking process to make such extensive figure. Only when my mom called me did I know that I had literally spent half of my day in the museum, since I went from the lowest to the highest floor, strolling from one exhibition to another, until I pretty much covered everything that there was to see.
I thought that I was going to be bored to death by setting feet into the Museum of Natural History. Now, I am just glad that I did not follow my intuition. Gambling on the possibility that I might not get anything from this museum visit was the best choice I could have made, since I ended up winning anyway. I guess that I should not follow my instincts when going to museums; otherwise I will never enjoy my future visits as much as I did on this occasion.