David Wilson (b. 1946 USA) began working in film; producing commercials, special effects, industrial films and trailers. In 1984 he created the first incarnation of the Museum of Jurassic Technology (MJT) which was a traveling collection for galleries, community centers and museums. In 1988 the museum found its first permanent facility in Culver City, located in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. Six years later, Wilson opened a German branch -- the tochter (or daughter) museum at the Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum in Hagen, Westphalia.

Wilson’s museum is a cross between a natural history museum and an artist installation. A small Borgesian museum, the MJT displays a mixture of artistic and scientific exhibits that may or may not present accurate factual information. Famous exhibits include The Eye of the Needle: The Unique World of Microminiatures of Hagop Sandadjian, which contains a tiny sculpture of Donald Duck carved from a strand of hair, and Bernard Maston, Donald R. Griffith and Deprong Mori of the Tripsicum Plateau, which describes the discovery of a bat that flies through solid objects with the use of X-rays. In addition to the many displays, visitors can watch a series of poetic documentaries on the Russian space program in the Borzoi Kabinet Theater and listen to music played in the Tula Tea Room, a miniature reconstruction of the study of Tsar Nicolas I from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.

David Wilson was awarded a MacArthur Foundation genius grant in 2001. He has produced six independent films, most recently under the auspices of The Museum of Jurassic Technology with Kabinit, an arts and science-based cultural institution located in St. Petersburg, Russia. He Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

David Wilson spent his 2009 residency reading, writing and looking through archival materials such as Isabella Stewart Gardner’s guest books and various correspondence. He returned to museum in April, 2010 for a special performance and screening of his film The Great Soviet Eclipse during Gardner After Hours. This program included a set of live and recorded narration by Wilson and musical accompaniment by Æ, the duo Aurelia Lucy Shrenker and Eva Salina Primack whose music was featured in the film. In the Fall Wilson returned again for a Room Views conversation with contemporary curator Pieranna Cavalchini about the MJT and the reasons music and film are such a strong components of his museum. During this visit, Wilson spent more time looking at materials in the archives and taking photos all around the galleries with his 3-D camera.