02-25-2016, 03:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-25-2016, 03:41 PM by Drunk Monk.)
You're on a role there with me, tg. Nice segue to continue my tale...
So we got to the Dali Theater-Museum, but like I mentioned earlier, our e-ticket timing was not in synch with the bus system. As soon as we got off the bus, we hopped a cab to the museum, only to find a huge line snaking around the building. My family glumly took their position in line and I circled the building to take photos. I found a tiny door on one side, far away from the front entrance that was for e-tickets. The guy there said 'You're late. We close in 5 minutes.' So I had to dash around the building, find Stacy in line to get the email confirmation, then dash back to that tiny door. In retrospect, I think he would have waited. He just liked to see the tourists run. I got the tickets unceremoniously and trudged back to the line, but saw another tiny door for Dali Jewels (we had tickets for that too). The doorman said 'Don't wait in the line. Just go in." So we cut in front of a few hundred people, squeezing past the tight turnstiles, and we were in. Finally. A place I had dreamt about for years. I made it.
The Dali Theater-Museum is the world's largest surrealist object. Recovered from the bombed-out ruins of the Figueres Municipal theater, Dali redesigned it into a house for his art by making the whole building into art. It is constantly in flux between being an art museum and art itself. And it's Dali's tomb, the ultimate homage to his magnitude. The courtyard houses one of his largest sculptures. There's the Mae West room, which is a random array of furniture that when viewed from a particular angle forms the bust of Mae West. Doorways, ceilings, walls - all adorned with surreal objects placed by the master himself. It's a gaudy brick-colored building, surrounded by more statuary, covered with croissants and topped with huge white eggs. There's a geodesic dome in a central room with some massive pieces. And there are so many great masterpieces, and whole sections of works I've never seen before - his Israel studies, his early works when he was dabbling in other styles like cubism and realism, his mechanical sculptures (that required a coin to activate like a boardwalk arcade), a whole floor dedicated to his Cadaques rock studies (these are remarkably detailed images of ocean rocks, where figures emerge, and after seeing Cadaques, I could totally see where he saw them). It also has some of Dali's private collection, including some magnificent El Greco and Duchamp. The explanations of some of his works were as revealing as they were mysterious - particularly Imperial Violets, which never made so much sense to me, especially after seeing The Enigma of Hitler in the Sofia Reina in Madrid. It's like strolling through Dali's mind, falling in a rabbit hole, dropping acid, or going mad. As Dali said, 'The only difference between me and a madman is I'm not mad.' and 'I don't do drugs. I am drugs.' I was dizzy with it all, my head spinning exactly how the master wanted. Dali was so prolific, tackling every media, and flipping from comic whimsy to the most profound and sublime.
But then there was more. Dali Jewels was a whole separate exhibit of jewels designed by Dali or based on his works, housed in a perfectly lit displays. Diamonds, gold, platinum, silver, gemstones, delicately assembled into Dali's visions - simply dazzling and taking surreality to its most extravagant heights.
I really wanted to grab some souvenir but we had to dash back to catch the bus. We could have waited for the later evening bus, but a Cadaques sunset called us back. This saddens me a little as the museum had a cool gift store and there were many surrounding shops that looked Dalinian. And when we got back to Cadaques, all the shops were closed, so I never got anything. I can get it online if I really want more stuff. But still, it would have been pious of me to bring something back for my altar as Dali figures so highly in my personal pantheon.
That being said, the sunset in Cadaques was one of the most beautiful I've ever experienced. We found a wonderful tapas bar right on the beach, and then strolled the shoreline as that magical Mediterranean sea light faded into darkness. It was totally worth it. That light! I could see how it inspired Dali. Cadaques is like no where else in the world.
Next: Sevilla
So we got to the Dali Theater-Museum, but like I mentioned earlier, our e-ticket timing was not in synch with the bus system. As soon as we got off the bus, we hopped a cab to the museum, only to find a huge line snaking around the building. My family glumly took their position in line and I circled the building to take photos. I found a tiny door on one side, far away from the front entrance that was for e-tickets. The guy there said 'You're late. We close in 5 minutes.' So I had to dash around the building, find Stacy in line to get the email confirmation, then dash back to that tiny door. In retrospect, I think he would have waited. He just liked to see the tourists run. I got the tickets unceremoniously and trudged back to the line, but saw another tiny door for Dali Jewels (we had tickets for that too). The doorman said 'Don't wait in the line. Just go in." So we cut in front of a few hundred people, squeezing past the tight turnstiles, and we were in. Finally. A place I had dreamt about for years. I made it.
The Dali Theater-Museum is the world's largest surrealist object. Recovered from the bombed-out ruins of the Figueres Municipal theater, Dali redesigned it into a house for his art by making the whole building into art. It is constantly in flux between being an art museum and art itself. And it's Dali's tomb, the ultimate homage to his magnitude. The courtyard houses one of his largest sculptures. There's the Mae West room, which is a random array of furniture that when viewed from a particular angle forms the bust of Mae West. Doorways, ceilings, walls - all adorned with surreal objects placed by the master himself. It's a gaudy brick-colored building, surrounded by more statuary, covered with croissants and topped with huge white eggs. There's a geodesic dome in a central room with some massive pieces. And there are so many great masterpieces, and whole sections of works I've never seen before - his Israel studies, his early works when he was dabbling in other styles like cubism and realism, his mechanical sculptures (that required a coin to activate like a boardwalk arcade), a whole floor dedicated to his Cadaques rock studies (these are remarkably detailed images of ocean rocks, where figures emerge, and after seeing Cadaques, I could totally see where he saw them). It also has some of Dali's private collection, including some magnificent El Greco and Duchamp. The explanations of some of his works were as revealing as they were mysterious - particularly Imperial Violets, which never made so much sense to me, especially after seeing The Enigma of Hitler in the Sofia Reina in Madrid. It's like strolling through Dali's mind, falling in a rabbit hole, dropping acid, or going mad. As Dali said, 'The only difference between me and a madman is I'm not mad.' and 'I don't do drugs. I am drugs.' I was dizzy with it all, my head spinning exactly how the master wanted. Dali was so prolific, tackling every media, and flipping from comic whimsy to the most profound and sublime.
But then there was more. Dali Jewels was a whole separate exhibit of jewels designed by Dali or based on his works, housed in a perfectly lit displays. Diamonds, gold, platinum, silver, gemstones, delicately assembled into Dali's visions - simply dazzling and taking surreality to its most extravagant heights.
I really wanted to grab some souvenir but we had to dash back to catch the bus. We could have waited for the later evening bus, but a Cadaques sunset called us back. This saddens me a little as the museum had a cool gift store and there were many surrounding shops that looked Dalinian. And when we got back to Cadaques, all the shops were closed, so I never got anything. I can get it online if I really want more stuff. But still, it would have been pious of me to bring something back for my altar as Dali figures so highly in my personal pantheon.
That being said, the sunset in Cadaques was one of the most beautiful I've ever experienced. We found a wonderful tapas bar right on the beach, and then strolled the shoreline as that magical Mediterranean sea light faded into darkness. It was totally worth it. That light! I could see how it inspired Dali. Cadaques is like no where else in the world.
Next: Sevilla
Shadow boxing the apocalypse