On MONA, the O, the bathrooms and poking around #throwbackthursday

Many greater museum minds than mine have written about the MONA experience and how it is shaking up the way we conceive of a total museum experience.
Regan Forrest in Reflections on a visit to MONA, observed that the experience starts once you get on the ferry: “So the ferry doubles as a mode of transport and a (pre-) entrance statement … And while I didn’t realise it at the time, I think this pre-experience had an impact on how I approached the museum visit itself.”
As Ed Rodley, in his piece Australia: MONA – Revolutionary and not, pointed out: “MONA is a total immersion experience, in a way that most museums aren’t. It delights (and sometimes assaults) all the senses.”
Experiencing the O at MONA – a review by Seb Chan, notes that “overall it sets a new benchmark in terms of integrated interpretative devices.”
What I found fascinating was that so much of the artworks on display were referencing the (mostly negative) influence of technology on our lives, yet the fact that they’re using the very thing that’s evil (technology) as the main interpretation toolwas rather amusing.
But, to the niggles. Having completely moved to an Android platform I had to “relearn” an Apple device, which made me realise how far ahead Androids are in their navigation and how unintuitive I found the iPod touch technology. Of course I asked if I could BYOD but was answered with a pleasant “no” (although the developer did say that a BYOD version is coming). Another gripe was that somehow I managed to lose my whole first tour and then the second one never got emailed to me, so all I have is a few fotos and pleasant memories. Oh, and the hot chocolate was tasty but cold and please, unisex toilets may be funky but as a woman I hate having to dodge pee on the floor!
Aside from these, the thing I most appreciated about the MONA experience is that it made me (along with my visiting companion Louise) feel like excited kids again – even so far as breaking into a pavilion for a snoop (hey, the door was open!), wandering around the beautiful grounds, visiting the amazing chapel, as well as the carpark (trust me – find the very funny installation for an unexpected laugh!).
Overall, it certainly was THE total museum experience and one I cannot wait to come back to.
(PS: consider this my lazy #throwbackthursday post as those I have referenced are a tad old!)