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It Figueres!
Entry 79 of 80 | show all | print this entry |
Last day, I can't believe it's here. How do you top off nine months of travel on the last day? What do you do to make it memorable? Can you possibly surpass all you have done in nine months? Sure!
Going down with a bang, my father woke me early and we set off for the train station. I know what your thinking. Does she ever stop, it's her last day and she gets on another train! That fact is that when you travel this far why leave out something within your grasp.
Figueres, Spain is another small blip on the travel map, but to a Salvador Dali lover, it's a huge blip! The hometown to this surreal artist, it draws thousands of visitors each year wanting to step into the weird, playful, and sometimes, disturbing world of Dali. I guess I would be one of those people, and after the surreal exhibit in Madrid, my dad was becoming an interested fan as well.
Finally, after two hours on a 'cattle car' type passenger train we set foot in the small town of Figueres. Following the signs to the museum we came upon a Dali instillation on the main square of the town. An elongated self-portrait, painted onto the concrete with a tubular mirror of sheet metal, it perfectly reflected Dali's portrait in proper proportions. Amazed and laughing at this odd piece of work, we continued on along the Dali trail discovering new outdoor sculptures leading us to the museum.
Finding our place in the long line to the entrance, this is why you should always come in the morning; I went off to take photos of the strange loafs of bread and 'Oscar' like sculptures on the roofline. Dali himself turned this old theatre into a museum, wanting to show people his world and to make his hometown more prosperous. Its obvious when you are standing in line and walking around this town, he was very successful in that dream.
When you visit Dali's museum, one must throw away any traditional thoughts about how a museum should be set up. There is no order to the collection, nothing is labeled, and there is no guide. Dali didn't want people to be 'informed', that wouldn't be a surreal approach to things. Instead, you get a 'peewee's playhouse' experience as you wander the many floors, the outdoor atrium, and the stage. All along the way there are coin-operated instillations, such as an old Cadillac that rains on the inside. Dali made the comment that you can never find a cab when it's raining in New York, so he made this sculpture of an old 1950's car that rained on the inside. This is the world of Dali: odd, thought provoking, and wonderful.
The experience was worth the time traveling here, but being a conventional museumgoer it was difficult to really enjoy the art. Not having a limit on people entering the museum, there were so many people inside I found it disturbing. Maybe that is what Dali wanted, but to me it made my time less enjoyable. Still a wonderful end to my trip, it's been 'surreal' all along the way, but I imagine tomorrow when I arrive back home it will seem more 'out of body' than anything I have experienced these last nine months.
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