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New Oddities Await You In The Tiny Tribeca Elevator Shaft Mmuseumm
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 28, 2015
Modified May 28, 2015
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 28, 2015
Modified May 28, 2015
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A cornflake taxonomy, handmade prison inventions, and a collection of metallic objects removed from the human body make up the fourth season of Mmuseumm, the city's most enchanting elevator shaft "dedicated to the curation and exhibition of contemporary artifacts."
Tonight at 7 p.m. sharp, the new collection at 4 Cortland Alley will be revealed to the public after a short opening ceremony.
Alex Kalman, Mmuseumm's co-founder and director, pointed to a row of incubating chicken eggs, which were sitting above a group of 3-D printed faces modeled on the DNA found in discarded chewing gum and made by the artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg.
"Some of these will hatch, others won't. Such is life," Kalman said of the eggs. "Either way, we'll leave the shells there. The ones that hatch are going to a happy farm upstate."
Kalman assured us that it wasn't a euphemism. "I mean that in a most sincere way. They really will go to a happy farm."
Using Mmuseumm's free, phone-operated audio guide, we learn that a rusted faucet was once removed from a patient of Dr. Robert Insley, who treated the seafaring community in Chatham, Massachusetts. As the man tried to pry off a rusted bolt, the bolt broke, and the man "went flying backwards impaling himself on the faucet." Dr. Insley installed the faucet and other scary-looking metal objects on the "Board of Shame" in his office.
The new collection also features Oxycontin-branded pocketknives and other Big Pharma ephemera from Ryder Ripps, as well as the world's fastest clock, invented by Freddie Yauner, the man behind the world's highest-popping toaster.
Tonight's opening ceremony will feature the unveiling of Mmuseumm No 2., a smaller space located several feet from Mmuseumm's home.
"It's in line with Mmuseumm's goal to link people's lives to everyday objects," Kalman said of the new exhibit.
Later, as we admired a collection of coffee lids showing the evolution of the technology, he added, "Like everything in here, it makes total sense, but it's also totally absurd."
After tonight's opening ceremony, Mmuseumm is open to the public on weekends from noon to 6 p.m. at 4 Cortland Alley in Tribeca.
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Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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