Went to The Marvelous Museum: A Project by Mark Dion at the Oakland Museum of California with my friend Eva, and fell in love with his work. His installations are placed all around the museum bringing to light historical pieces that are part of the museum's permanent collection but don't fit the current museum's agenda, such as natural science collections and much more. It compiles a rich and captivating story of how museum collections are assembled over time.
Michael C. McMillen is a mixed-media artist based in Santa Monica, California, whose installations and sculptures made out of recyclable materials, or as he calls them "the cast-offs of our material society," play around the themes of time, change, and illusion as a means to create what he refers to as "visual spiritual poetry." It's very interesting work with a magic of its own. The two friends I've brought with me to view his work have referred to his pieces as post-apocalyptic. I see it more as a beautiful display of decay. They had a similar eerie effect on me as when I visited a ghost town of the Gold Rush era, here in California, for the first time. Like a glimpse at the ancient ruins of the future. To fully appreciate his installations you really must experience them. You can view his work in person at an upcoming exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California from April 16, 2011 to August 14, 2011, entitled Train of Thought .