Civilization and Capitalism 15th-18th Century, Vol 2 by Sian Reynold

People would much rather confess their crimes to a quiet, unassuming listener: a cute baby animal such as a young rabbit or kitten. On each occasion, he was struck by ineffectiveness of criminal interrogations, largely because they were conducted by police officers ‘the type of person an offender naturally distrusts.’ Even the substitution of non-police interrogators was fraught, Mintox claimed, because they were still obvious agents of the law.

Mintox had many encounters with local police, usually as a result of neighbours reporting huge explosions emanating from his property. The Oopsatoreum: The Puppy Confidant (reconstructed) (1948) In some cases being too far ahead of their time, such as an early attempt to introduce mobile text-messaging using pre-electronic technology.Īn example of the types of objects that were displayed in the exhibition: Many of the actual objects, from a hearing-aids to a mechanical dog, are recast as failed innovations. Mintox (pictured above): spectacularly unsuccessful and therefore largely unknown, at least until this museum ‘retrospective’. I responded with the character of an imaginary inventor, Henry A. While the Odditoreum wandered randomly from medieval canonballs to genetrically engineered moths, Helen’s idea for the Oopsatoreum involved more of an overarching narrative, with some emphasis on mechanical objects and accidents.

A little bit more insight into the development of the exhibition can be found on the website of the author who came up with the fictional world for the exhibit, Shaun Tan:įollowing on from the successful exhibition of curiosities, The Odditoreum, Sydney Powerhouse Museum Program’s Producer Helen Whitty approached me with a concept for another show involving fictional histories of real (but often quite strange) objects from their archives.

Civilization and Capitalism 15th-18th Century, Vol 2 by Sian Reynold