David's golden ticket
Mona man’s sweet deal
MONA’S latest attraction will be unveiled to the public later this month — and it appears a lucky few local residents will be among the first to see it.
Mona owner David Walsh has gone full Willy Wonka in the lead-up to the opening of the new 750sq m Pharos wing of his gallery.
Residents in the surrounding area have received chocolates dubbed the “Walshie Bar” in their letterbox.
And there are rumours that 40 of the 1200 bars contain a “golden ticket” in the form of a ticket for two to the unveiling of Pharos ahead of its public opening on December 26.
Mona refused to comment yesterday.
The chocolates themselves only say on the back of the packaging (made to look like the famous Willy Wonka bars from the movie that was based on the Roald Dahl books): “Not everybody likes Mona. But, in my experience, everybody likes chocolate. Please enjoy this small token of my appreciation. It’s literally the least I can do. David Walsh.”
Victorian company Chocolate Works confirmed it had made the bars but would make no further comment.
Protruding 20 metres over the River Derwent, Pharos houses an extra gallery and bar. The $20 million extension will house four light-based works by acclaimed American artist James Turrell, including a light tunnel, dark space and meditation space.
“You lie on a platform on your back like an operation table and you slide into a sphere and it’s a sound and light show,” Mona projects manager Steve Devereaux has said previously. “It really bombards the mind with sound and light.”
Mona is already home to Turrell’s light and colour out- door installation Amarna directly above the new gallery.
There will also be one work each from Jean Tinguely, Charles Ross, Richard Wilson and Randy Polumbo. Described on the Mona website as a “solar spectrum installation,” the piece by American artist Ross will feature 12 light prisms in the walls and ceiling of a skybridge viewing platform that is aligned to catch the sun.
English artist Wilson’s piece features a reservoir of recycled engine oil while Tinguely’s work is called Memorial to Sacred Wind, also known as the Tomb of Kamikaze.
Continuing the theme of sex and death that is Mona’s hallmark, American artist Polumbo’s “LED-lit grotto of flowers made from glassblown dildos” will be accessible via a new tunnel network.
Mofo ticket holders will be able to experience Pharos during the three-day summer festival from January 19.