Andare, Partire, Tornare ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What to expect from a costume exhibit Things I learned from my first costume exhibit: Expect random body parts to be strewn throughout the building. Don't be surprised to find a shoulder sitting on a table next to the torso of the mannekin that formerly owned it. Don't tease the museum preparator when you walk in to find him wearing a dust mask and sawing off the heel of a disembodied pair of legs, resembling Hannibal Lecter grabbing a snack during the commercial break. It makes the preparator feel vaguely guilty, for some reason. Expect a flock of women assisting you in dressing the mannekins. These women will range from young people interning for the experience, to older women who do this professionally for many museums. Some of them are very odd. Some of them will be geniuses with a needle, while others will be mistresses of the hot glue gun. Speaking of the glue gun, expect lots of third-degree burns when you accidentally glue yourself to a paper raffia wig for the 1904 bride. Expect to spend a full forty-five minutes with your head up the miniskirted dress of the 1960's bride as you try to secure her bouquet with monofilament fishing line. Expect somebody to photograph you with your head up said skirt, and threaten you with blackmail. Expect to see a curator go insane. Expect to have a board member come in and spend a ridiculous amount of time and energy fussing about one small aspect of the exhibit that she wants changed right this very minute, and contributing in large part to the insanity of the curator and, at this point, the registrars. Expect to get stuck with a pin at least five times an hour. Worry about not bleeding on the dresses. Expect lots of happy visitors to the reception, including many who will not, for once, tromp directly into the food area to chow down like they haven't been fed in four days. Discover that Norwegian men who resemble Russell Crowe in his fatter phase (still surprisingly attractive, but not exactly Adonis) can be surprisingly suave, as one flirts with you and the docent coordinator and the quilt volunteer simultaneously. Wonder if he might have been hitting the wine a little early. Expect to hide from docents and the weird dragon lady reinactor who chats with everybody like she never recently threatened to sue the museum because she tripped over something and twisted her ankle. Expect to be very tired, and to go home and sleep, sleep, sleep. After picking off any stray hot glue adhesions still stuck to your fingers. 8:22 a.m. - 2004-04-16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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