You start off in a small, short hallway with a few stairs leading up to the displays. It is dim and you aren’t sure what lies ahead. As you approach the large, closed double doors, they open to reveal the brightly lit museum. You enter into a small, circular shaped room. There are three equally sized rooms to the left, back, and right of this main room. There are vast, huge archways serving as the entryways to the three side rooms. Each room, which you find out as you explore the museum, is decorated based on the theme of each piece. You hold in your hands something like a tablet that is given to you when you first enter the spaceship. You type in or say whatever language you wish, and everything is automatically displayed in the chosen language. If you cannot read, then there is a button that will make the tablet read selected texts to you in your language. You obtain the artwork information by scanning the tablet to a set podium nearby the main room centerpiece and at the entrance to each of the side rooms. You can see smaller scanners underneath large portraits in the back of each of the three rooms and at the one in front of the first piece (for information specifically about the artist).

In the very center of the main room, which is the first thing you see upon entering, is one of the original, foreboding bronze statues of the “Gates of Hell.” We are not sure exactly which one of the three originals it is, but we speculate that it is the one that came from Paris. In front of it are one of the information podiums mentioned before and a picture of the artist, Auguste Rodin. There is a red rope around the piece to keep people from getting too close to it. Within the room all around it, are a few enlarged, recently created models of some of the specific pieces (“The Thinker,” “Eternal Spring” and “The Three Shades”), for those that wish to get a clearer look at some of the many major models within it. On the walls around the main room are photos of the drawings Rodin created during the design process, which where based very heavily from Dante’s “Divine Comedy.” This sculpture was commissioned by the government for the entrance of a museum. It reflects the tragedy and sorrow many artists felt at this time, thanks to the troubled world they lived in. It forces you to look at the big questions, and yet allows you to see and come to terms with the details that create the overlying image. This work reminds us that the suffering of man whether by supernatural forces or completely by our own doings, will always exist.

As you enter the room to the left, you scan your tablet and learn that this room holds Joseph Haydn and his “Surprise” symphony. The room is set for the late 1700s, which was when the symphony was created. There is a chandelier in the center lighting the area, and things such as wood carved, colonial-style clocks and tables. In the back of the room is a grand painting of Joseph Haydn himself above a stone fireplace. Mostly, though, there are numerous, old styled lounge chairs to lie upon as you listen to the symphony. However, the symphony is nicknamed “Surprise” for a reason. To keep guests wondering about the surprise in the music, you can only listen to it through headphones, which are situated on the tables next to the lounge chairs. Along the walls to the right and left are miniature sound-proof rooms with various instruments and music sheets of the symphony for guests to be able play. This symphony, other than the surprise fortissimo in the second movement (Andante), was based from other, well-known classical tunes of that time, particularly in that of the variation-type slow movements. In his symphony, the same simple tune reveals new emotion within each subsequent variation. Its composition illustrates the importance of sound patterns in perceiving music. Moreover, it proves how a sound that listeners are not expecting to hear can manipulate the listeners' experience towards the music.

You leave the left room and enter the back room. Scanning your tablet at the entrance, you learn that Thomas More’s “Utopia” is held here. The original book is roped off in a display case in the very center of the room. On the wall to the left, is an enlarged picture of the famous map Thomas More created to depict his version of Utopia. On the back wall is a large painting of Thomas More. Around this are quotes describing many key features of his Utopia placed around the painting. For those interested in the book itself, there is a reading section filled with chairs, tables and couches to stay and read in the right-hand side of the room. There are numerous physical books printed in various languages for those that wish to hold a real book. Otherwise, you can scan the tablet and download a digital copy of the book to read at your own time and leisure. This book was the first writings pertaining to a “perfect state” since Plato’s “Republic” (although many believe that it is criticism of European society at that time). In Utopia’s society, everything and everyone, except slaves, were equal; and all citizens were wholly expected to uphold social justice. On reason believed as to why it was written was that Thomas More wanted to escape the mayhem in his own country, which involved King Henry VIII spending all the country’s money without caring for the people. Thomas More’s ideas (specifically that of Utopia) were unheard of and not anything anyone would have believed. Even if people did agreed with him, they would not openly agree with him and his work was still seen as severe criticism, if not blasphemy, towards his country. Thomas More was highly critical of his world, especially towards many of the economic changes. Utopia might have been something of a suggestion towards solutions to Europe’s problems. He showed the differences between the chaos of his corrupt society and the equality his idealistic one. Everything in this book has (more or less) been well thought out and his story is elaborate. His morals and ideals paint the image of a world desired by every living creature; a world where everything is perfect and there is no reason to have things like thievery and murder.

You move on into the next room, the final room to the right. This room is not quite as lavish or impressive as the others. In fact, it is quite bare. The floor is covered in dirt, the room is somewhat cold and there is dim lighting, except around various pictures along the wall. A tablet scan tells you that this is a room attributed to the Holocaust; specifically to that of a specific camp, called Bergen-Belsen. A large photo of George Rodger, the photographer of these photos, is on the back wall, like the other two rooms. Around his photo and along the left wall are various pictures that Rodger took during his trip to the camp and a specified quote from him describing his visit at the top: “It wasn't even a matter of what I was photographing, as what had happened to me in the process. When I discovered that I could look at the horror of Belsen - 4000 dead and starving lying around - and think only of a nice photographic composition, I knew something had happened to me and I had to stop. I felt I was like the people running the camp - it didn't mean a thing.” On the right wall, are screens with a video that gives an overview of World War II and the Holocaust, which you can listen to through headphones (also in your chosen language). The reaction to such reports and the reality of even the least horrific of concentration camps was as expected. The people back home who say these things through the media were as shocked as anyone else. As the first major camp to be liberated by the allies [on April 15, 1945], the event received a lot of press coverage and the world saw the horrors of the Holocaust. As a war correspondent for Life, his job was to record and report what was going on in the world, making this a very common and typical topic. However, what made these photos stand out so much from many
other war photos was their content. This wasn’t just of the soldiers or the
battlefield. There were of the victims of those battles. This has been preserved
to remind us that war should never be the right choice. The costs are always
too high and too many lives are destroyed, if not snuffed out completely. While
it is difficult to fully comprehend the brutality of concentration and death
camps, its significance goes beyond description. Tremendous suffering and pain
always results from war and shows how human cruelty has no limit.

No one is requited to visit, but it is
recommended. These artworks all had tremendous impacts during their own time,
and still do today. Granted, there is no specific route people take. Upon
entering, they can stick around the main room or wander the other three rooms.
Opening to close, they can stay and read Thomas More’s “Utopia” if they so
wish. You can enter or leave whenever you choose, as long as you hopefully
enjoy your stay.