The Museum of Jurassic Technology

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is located on a fairly nondescript block in Culver City. But the interior is anything but nondescript. I'm not sure I can even explain what it is--a cabinet of curiosities, "a specialized repository of relics and artifacts from the Lower Jurassic, with an emphasis on those that demonstrate unusual or curious technological qualities." It's a dimly lit labyrinthine place, with beige rotary phone receivers in the wall that play back information about the exhibits when you hold them up to your ear.

In this room we heard the tragic story of an opera singer.

From butterflies behind glass to miniature mobile homes to dogs of the Soviet space program, the museum houses a strange variety of collections,

many of which are charmingly "out of order."

As Dave pointed out to me, many of the displays look straight out of a Nine Inch Nails video.

Especially when you photograph them using a Dali lens.

While I at times couldn't fully comprehend what I was looking at, I always felt a sense of wonder and amusement (and maybe a little bit of confusion). In that regard it's almost like a big art installation, an experiment designed to invoke various reactions in the visitor.