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There are a number of appropriate museums in Ottawa Ontario Canada.

Canadian Museum of Civilization
100 Laurier Street, Gatineau Quebec
http://www.civilization.ca/

Canada Science and Technology Museum
1867 St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa Ontario
http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/

Canada Aviation Museum
11 Aviation Parkway, Ottawa, Ontario
http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/

Canada Agriculture Museum
Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Ontario
http://www.agriculture.technomuses.ca/

Canadian Museum of Nature
240 McLeod Street, Ottawa Ontario
http://www.nature.ca/

Diefenbunker Canada's Cold War Museum
3911 Carp Road, Carp Ontario
http://www.diefenbunker.ca/

Canadian War Museum
1 Vimy Place, Ottawa Ontario
http://www.warmuseum.ca/

National Gallery of Canada
380 Sussex Dr., Ottawa Ontario
http://www.gallery.ca/

I probably shouldn't have bothered, as posting AC on slashdot is like pissing into the wind, but at least you can't be banned from posting altogether, as registered users can be. (by other users at that - nuts... I'll never figure that one out - sadism perhaps?)

A big deal was made of the natural lighting system at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa when it was built 20 years ago. There's a NY Times article:

The light tumbles in from light monitors lined with Mylar, so it reflects as it bounces down into the gallery, and it is exquisite and constantly changing.

I don't exactly spend my free time hanging out there, but if I was to choose a gallery to hang out in, this would be it.

Canada's National Gallery, paid for by taxes, engages in this fraud/theft:

They have many cultural treasures there that are public domain
( like centuries-old carvings ),
and many that aren't.
Since public domain stuff can easily be known for what it is,
by them ( they curate their collection, or at least they demand subsidy to do so! )...
their assertion of authority...

"Visitors may take pictures for personal use, with a hand-held camera and electronic flash, of the public spaces of the National Gallery of Canada. For copyright reasons, it is not permitted to reproduce or to sell the photographs, and to photograph works in the galleries."

Notice that for ALL works, public domain included!, in the name of "copyright", they are blocking humanity from capturing photos -- as all, not just locals, legally have the right to -- while...


"The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (CMCP) offer a wealth of images to researchers, publishers and others seeking to visually enhance their projects and products. Photographic reproductions of many works of art in the permanent collection are available for use in books, journals, newspapers, theses, on websites, cards, posters, CDs, and other merchandise."

selling their photos of the same stuff.

TRY exercising your legal right in that "institution",
and you WILL be stopped / thrown out.

Robbery of human cultural rights from all
Legally Public Domain Cultural Wealth,
by their misrepresentation of the "law",
while commercially exploiting Canadians' collection,
while being subsidized entirely on taxpayer's backs.

And yes, they do throw around their security "authority".

Getting them to acknowledge Canadian law,
and to permit legal photographing of public domain work might be possible,
but having dealt with such "institutions",
I'll believe it only when it's in writing, publically,
and others that they are unable to intimidate are watching.

From here, here, and here, FOR FREE!

Oops.

This law is *stupid*. Providing links to material that is copyrighted is routine, and there is no way to easily tell whether the people following those links are *actually* infringing or not. For example, if someone downloads a copy of copyrighted material that they have already purchased, is that still infringement? What if the particular usage falls under "fair use"?

If the copyright owners want to prosecute people to protect the rights they get under copyright, then the obvious targets are the people who A) actually host/distribute the files, and B) people who actually download them. Links to material are like providing a list of books in a library -- somebody could use those to find them, borrow them (all fine), and then photocopy them (probably infringing). Should the library then be sued as a contributory to the act?

I gotta go with Ebert on this one. Games aren't true art... yet. Aside from the previously mentioned Deus Ex, I can't name one other game I've played that has actually stimulated genuine critical thought.

You should be careful about what you say... Because you will get exactly
what you wish for.

This reminds of Canadian artist Janet Cardiff's remarkable art installation 40 Part Motet, which represented Canada at the 2001 Venice Biennale and won the Millennium Prize at the National Gallery of Canada.

Cardiff recorded Spem in Alium nunquam habui, written by Thomas Tallis in 1575. The piece is unique in that was designed for eight choirs of five people each. Cardiff made her recording by capturing each voice separately and on its own track. The piece is then played back over a circle of forty speakers in the installation space (here's how it looked at the Tate). I saw it when it was at the National Gallery, where it was set up in the Gallery's Rideau Chapel.

The effect is breathtaking - from outside the room it sounds like a normal choral piece, but once inside your perspective changes. By standing in the middle of the circle you can feel the voices blend and wash over you. You can then walk up to each of the speaker sets and hear that group's harmony. Step closer and you can hear each individual voice. By moving around the room you can experience different parts of the sound sculpture.

When the piece ends there is complete silence. After about a minute you can hear rustling and whispering from speakers as the choir gets ready, and then the piece begins again. You have to hear it to understand.

The end result is a complete immersive 3-dimensional aural experience that, like the organ, would be completely impossible to replicate with one, two, or even a handful of speakers.

This reminds of Canadian artist Janet Cardiff's remarkable art installation 40 Part Motet, which represented Canada at the 2001 Venice Biennale and won the Millennium Prize at the National Gallery of Canada.

Cardiff recorded Spem in Alium nunquam habui, written by Thomas Tallis in 1575. The piece is unique in that was designed for eight choirs of five people each. Cardiff made her recording by capturing each voice separately and on its own track. The piece is then played back over a circle of forty speakers in the installation space (here's how it looked at the Tate). I saw it when it was at the National Gallery, where it was set up in the Gallery's Rideau Chapel.

The effect is breathtaking - from outside the room it sounds like a normal choral piece, but once inside your perspective changes. By standing in the middle of the circle you can feel the voices blend and wash over you. You can then walk up to each of the speaker sets and hear that group's harmony. Step closer and you can hear each individual voice. By moving around the room you can experience different parts of the sound sculpture.

When the piece ends there is complete silence. After about a minute you can hear rustling and whispering from speakers as the choir gets ready, and then the piece begins again. You have to hear it to understand.

The end result is a complete immersive 3-dimensional aural experience that, like the organ, would be completely impossible to replicate with one, two, or even a handful of speakers.

Voice of Fire is acrylic on canvas. It is a large, tall painting: 5.4 metres (almost 18 feet) high by 2.4 metres (or eight feet) wide. On it are painted three vertical -- "stripes" is the word favoured by the cartoonists, who had some fun contrasting it with a supposed "polka-dot" school, but I think that anyone who takes the trouble to engage with the painting will come to see them rather as "columns" -- of colour. The columns on either side are deep blue with a purplish cast (a combination of prussian blue and ultramarine). The central column is a very warm -- "fiery" I think must be the word -- cadmium red, approaching orange. The colour contrast is intense. The lines are rigidly straight, although the colours bleed slightly into one another. The texture is flat, but the white undercoat gives the colours intense luminosity. The painting envelopes you as you approach it. The price, $1.76 million.

Here's what you get when you let snootiness rule. $1.76 million spent on this!