Tinguely Museum

Chris had the day off on Friday for the National Day holiday, so we headed to the Tinguely Museum, just a 20 minute walk from our place.  Jean Tinguely was a mid-20th century Swiss (Basel-born) artist famous for his "kinetic art".  I have shared pictures of the Tinguely fountain in the Old City in Basel, and much of the art at the museum was similar.  Lots of moving parts and clanging metal, put into motion when a button is pressed (usually by the kids!).  But on our way to the museum, we first stopped for a picnic lunch at Solitude Park.  The park is right next to the museum and right along the Rhine.  We watched lots of folks floating by on this hot day.

Solitude Park

The Tinguely Museum is also currently displaying artwork by Zilvinas Kempinas, a Lithuanian artist.  The work on display all uses video tape (the actual ribbon-like tape) to create amazing effects.  In the pic below, the ribbons span the distance across this large circle made of poles.

More fun outside of the museum.  We didn't take any pics inside because the camera was stashed in a locker and it took a bit for me to realize that pics were, indeed, permitted.

These chess pieces were super light-weight. 

After our visit to the museum we stopped back at Solitude Park for an impromptu swim.  We were unprepared for a swim, but fortunately there was one swim diaper in the stroller.  And luckily it was a pretty hot day, so the kids dried off quickly on the walk home.