Film maker, friend, and many-time Observatory lecturer Ronni Thomas finds Observatory--the event and gallery space I founded with some friends in Brooklyn New York a few years back--inspiring. So inspiring, in fact, that he has created a new web-based video series entitled "The Midnight Archive: Tales from the Observatory" which will use as a launching off point the events, classes, field trips and personalities to be found in this space.

This Friday night we will be hosting a launch party for The Midnight Archive at The Coney Island Museum as part of my ongoing exhibition The Great Coney Island Spectacularium; more on that party can be found here.

In the meantime, above is a teaser for the show, which features five Observatory presenters--including our self-taught anthropomorphic taxidermy and mummification instructors--and is graced by the music of Stephen Coates of The Real Tuesday Weld. And following is what auteur Ronni Thomas has to say about this new series and its inspiration:

About an ODD year ago, or so, i had the honor to lecture at the ever impressive Brooklyn Observatory in, well... Brooklyn, NY. I was amazed at the turnout - I could not believe so many people were interested in such strange topics. Talking to Joanna Ebenstein of Morbid Anatomy and the Observatory itself, it seemed apparent that there was a demand for a series on the exotic and the esoteric.

Hence - The Midnight Archive... Its not only a web series but a collection - so to speak - of some of the unique people, collections, careers and artifacts from the Observatory as well as around the world. Consider it a sampler, an Observatory Sampler - like those Whitman's Chocolate Samplers (only don't crush each of these to figure out whats inside). The Series launches Friday August 12th at Coney Island USA - for details please email ronni [at] themidnightarchive.com

Title Theme by the ever amazing Stephen Coates (The Real Tuesday Weld, Lazarus and the Plane Crash) http://www.tuesdayweld.com.

Stay tuned for full episodes at themidnightarchive.com. For more on Friday's launch party--where at least one entire episode will be screened--click here. For more on Observatory--the space that inspired it all!--click here.

Dear Morbid Anatomy readers:

In just a few days, I am off to live for one month (!!!) in Seoul, South Korea as part of the fantastic Apex Art Outbound Residency Program. For those of you who are interested, I will be documenting my Korean adventures on a special blog for Apex Art; you can check that out by clicking here. I arrive in Seoul on September 16th, so blog entries should begin soon after.

But I have a more pressing question for you, dear readers: do any of you out there have any suggestions for suggested Korean sights, sounds, and tastes? Of particular interest, of course, are museums and collections--especially old natural history or anatomical/medical--but any suggestions, from foods to markets to restaurants to shops to national parks to amusement parks to folk art to fine art to curiosities of any kind, would be very much appreciated!

Suggestions will be gratefully received at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com. Thank you very very much in advance!

Image: House Swallow from the Ehwa Womans University Natural History Museum, Korea.

The Murtogh D. Guinness Collection at the Morris Museum is an astounding collection of automata (mechanical toys popular in the 18th and 19th century) and mechanical musical instruments that can be visited in--of all surprising places--Morristown, New Jersey. The collection is mind-blowingly vast; it is, in fact, the largest such public collection in the U. S. and one of the largest in the world, with around 700 automata and mechanical musical instruments and over 5,000 programmed media, nearly all of which are were produced in the 19th Century.

The highlight of the Morris Collection--in my opinion, at least!--is its extensive lot of fine 19th Century European automatons. Most of the pieces are in excellent repair and still able to go through their uncanny motions, and the scale, quality, and range of the collection are simply flabbergasting, the kind of thing you might consider yourself lucky to find in France (where many automata producers were based) but certainly not here on the East Coast of the United States.

The Morris Museum has just published a new book devoted to this collection. Entitled Musical Machines and Living Dolls: Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata from the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection, this book is a lovely little gem all its own; it is hardcover, full color throughout, beautifully printed, and well-researched. It also includes a well-researched overview of the history of automata from ancient times to the present and a biography of Murtogh D. Guinness, the heir to the Guinness beer fortune who amassed this collection and ultimately bequeathed it to the Morris Museum.

The book also--luckily for me!--features extensive text and scores of images (all images above are drawn from the book!) devoted to many of my favorite pieces in the collection, such as a number of 18th Century-style monkey dandies engaging in human activities (images 2, 3 & 4), 3 cats playing cards (image 5), a lute-playing Mephistopholes (image 7), an asp-suiciding Cleopatra (!!!) (image 6), performing tightrope walkers with orchestral accompaniment (image 9), a hookah-smoking Turk, singing birds, strutting peacocks, performing magicians, street vendors peddling their wares, and much, much more.

To give you a taste of the style and level of research to be found in this book, I include here the entire entry for the fascinating piece you see 6 images down, a late 19th century automaton entitled "The Suicide of Cleopatra":

The Suicide of Cleopatra
About 1880-90
Phalibois, Paris, France
37" x 45 1/2" w x 12 1/2" d
2003.18.236a-c

Surrounded by a massive gilt frame, this animated scene would have dominated most parlors of the time. It depicts a highly sensual version of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt's supposed suicide in 30 B.C. When activated, her breast heaves, her eyelids blink--and an asp strikes.

Although made in the late 1800s, the scene reflects a long-standing Western fascination with Egypt, which had been renewed by Napoleon Bonaparte's occupation of the country at the turn of the nineteenth century. Along with tens of thousands of troops, Bonaparte brought with him scientists and scholars who recorded all that they saw. The Description de l'Egypte, which emerged from their research, became a source for artists, designers, architects, and others, and the ensuing widespread fascination spread from everything from furniture to parlor entertainment.

Morbid Anatomy is delighted to be assisting The Morris Museum in the distribution of this lovely and informative book, which contains images and information to be found nowhere else. The cost of the book is $40; shipping and handling within the United States is $5 and shipping and handling for international orders is $15. The book is 10 1/2" X 8 1/2" and runs to about 140 pages. As I am unable to get these books listed on Amazon.com, those interested in ordering a copy can contact me directly at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

You can find out more about the Morris Museum--including how to visit the collection in person!--by clicking here. Also, stay tuned for a soon-to-be-announced second field trip to visit the collection. If interested in receiving an alert, subscribe to the Morbid Anatomy mailing list by adding your email address on the upper left-hand side of this blog under the header "Mailing List of Events, Happenings, and The Like."

All images are drawn from the book and picture, from top to bottom:

1. Book Cover
2. Barrel Reed Organ with Monkey Automata, about 1865
3. Monkey Violinist, about 1855
4. Monkey Dandy, about 1880
5. Cats Playing Cards, about 1900
6. Suicide of Cleopatra, about 1880-1890
7. Mephistopholes (Model No. 1), about 1886-1900
8. Barrel Organ with Animated Figures, about 1820-1840 (detail)
9. Tightrope Dancer and Musicians, about 1875-1885 (detail)

The BBC has just posted a lovely little narrated slide show about Henry Wellcome, founder of the Wellcome Trust and Library and compiler of one of the most extraordinary medical collections in the world. The piece is narrated by my friend Ross MacFarlane of the Wellcome Library, who is an unofficial specialist on Mr. Wellcome and his fabulous collection; you can check it out (highly recommended!) by clicking here.

All images taken from the slide show, and feature Wellcome's collection.

Next Friday, August 12th, please join Morbid Anatomy and The Coney Island Museum for a launch party celebrating The Midnight Archives: Tales From the Observatory, a new video series "centered around the esoteric and always exotic personalities that spring from the Brooklyn Observatory." This project is the creation of many-time Observatory lecturer and film-maker Ronni Thomas, and promises to provide a fascinating and informative look into some of the topics explored by Observatory events past and future.

Come for the party and the screenings, stay to check out the exhibition The Great Coney Island Spectacularium and to experience The Cosmorama of the Great Dreamland Fire, and linger on for the complementary midnight martinis!

Full details follow; Hope very much to see you there.

Date: Friday, August 12
Location: The Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn MAP
Time: 8:00pm
Admission: $20
COMPLIMENTARY "MIDNIGHT MARTINI'S" AND SPECIALTY DRINKS FOR ALL!

Another in a series of exciting events in the Coney Island Museum, the Great Coney Island Spectacularium invites you to the Midnight Archive LAUNCH PARTY with filmmaker and collector Ronni Thomas!

Join us for the launch of the web series The Midnight Archives: Tales From the Observatory. The series is the work of Ronni Thomas (Alias Ronni Raygun) of the IKA Collective and is centered around the esoteric and always exotic personalities that spring from the Brooklyn Observatory. It attempts to briefly document some of the truly unique people, talents and objects from around the world who gather there on a weekly basis. Mummies, Taxidermy, 18th century robotics, early French demonic 3d horror... its all here.

Series creator Ronni Thomas will give a brief lecture followed by the screening of episode 1 "Petrifying Pets: Modern Day Mummies" (6 minutes) and a short montage reel.

You can find out more--and purchase tickets!--by clicking here. For more on The Great Coney Island Spectacularium, click here. More on Observatory here.

We have 8 open slots for Observatory's final scheduled mummification class, which will take place this Sunday, August 7th. Full details follow; if interested, drop me a line to RSVP!

Date: Sunday, August 7th
Time: 1-4 PM
Admission: $60
Location: Observatory, 543 Union at Nevins, Brooklyn, Buzzer 1E
*** Please RSVP at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com

In today's class, learn the mummification process as described in the "Egyptian Book of the Dead" (Book of Coming Forth By Day). Instructor Sorceress Cagliastro will guide students in the use of the traditional materials--such as natron salts, canopic jars, oils and herbs, dried flowers and linen or gauze wraps--and traditional ritual--such as ritual of the opening of the mouth--in the creation of an authentic and perfectly respected animal mummy. Each student will leave class with an animal mummy of their own making.

Please note: No animals are harmed or killed for this class; the materials are found already deceased, obtained either from a food service such as a meat market that serves a clientele seeking intact animals, or from a pet feeder supply.

Sorceress Cagliastro has a background as a teacher, author, and forensic reconstructionist. She worked as a trade embalmer and spent many years of work at the office of the Chief Medical Examiner. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband, daughter, and two dogs.

More info about this class and Observatory can be found here.

Morbid Anatomy now has several additional copies of taxidermy collector/historian Pat Morris' lavishly illustrated taxidermic tomes A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste and Walter Potter and his Museum of Taxidermy in stock and available for immediate sale.

Morris' new and encylopedic History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste (pictured above in images 1-3) is an extensive (nearly 400 pages), large-format, and lavishly illustrated 4-color tome that details the entire history of the art, science, and sometimes questionable trends of taxidermy. This thoroughly-researched and liberally illustrated text discusses the earliest historical pieces, collections public and private, changing techniques throughout its history, human taxidermy (such as shrunken heads, Jeremy Bentham and other examples), anthropomorphic taxidermy and its roots at The Great Exhibition of 1851, the taxidermy and natural history craze of the 19th century, taxidermic kitsch, gentleman country house collections, and much, much, much more.

Morris' other book (images 4-9) details the life and work of Walter Potter, the undisputed king of Victorian anthropomorphic taxidermy and artist behind unforgettable taxidermic tableaux depicting kitten tea parties, bunny schoolhouses, kitten croquet matches and more, not to mention founder of a museum dedicated to his own curious pieces. The book, entitled Walter Potter and his Museum of Taxidermy is large-format, full-color, and features scores of nearly impossible-to-find photographs of Potter's unforgettable works, archival photographs of the early museum, and antique and vintage ephemera related to the museum. The book is also extremely well researched, providing a through biography or Mr Potter, a detailed history of his museum of curious taxidermy, and the stories behind the making of his iconic pieces of anthropomorphic taxidermy.

You can find out more about these books--and order copies of them--by clicking here. But supplies are limited, so order quickly!

Hope to see you there!

Shrinking and Other Acts of Sabotage
An illustrated lecture with Petra Lange-Berndt, University College London
Date: Thursday, July 28th
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

Taxidermy is quite literally the incarnation of trophy culture; It is no coincidence that the 19th Century craze for taxidermy coincided with the emergence of the biological sciences, which were, themselves, strongly tied to colonial interests of exploration, exploitation, classification, and reorganization of the world.

Today, this violent story -- as well as the bulk of 19th Century decorative taxidermy, such as heads on shields, armchairs made out of whole bears, elephant footstools or lamp bases adorned with birds of paradise -- are largely absent from public collections and their institutionalized narratives. Also problematic for the serious student of the medium is that, like art conservators or the editors of texts, taxidermists are only successful if there is no visible trace of their work left in the final product.

Tonight's presentation by Petra Lange-Berndt, author of Animal Art: Specimens in Modern and Contemporary Art Practices, 1850-2000, will chase the stories that are woven into the textures of taxidermy by focusing on the fabrication of the nature/cultures in question, and by asking such questions as what kind of politics are attached to these stilled lifes? And how have the power relations encountered in public natural history collections been challenged by modern and contemporary artists?

Petra Lange-Berndt is a lecturer at the Department of History of Art, University College of London. She has published a book in German on Animal Art: Specimens in Modern and Contemporary Art Practices, 1850-2000 (Silke Schreiber, 2009) and just organised a conference on "Taxidermy and Colonial Practice" at the Natural History Museum, London. She likes all kinds of unpopular arts and B-cultures and was co-curator of an exhibition in three parts on "Sigmar Polke: We Petty Bourgeois! The 1970s" at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg (2009-10); her new research is concerned with artists' colonies and communes.

Photo: Photo from Natural History Museum of Nantes (France), by Julie N. Hascoët

Living Dolls: The Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata at the Morris Museum
A live automata demonstration and illustrated lecture by Jere Ryder, Conservator of the Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata at the Morris Museum
Date: Friday, July 29th
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $10
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

The Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata at the Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey is one of the finest collections of automata--or moving mechanical toys popular in the 18th Century and 19th Centuries--in the world. Compiled over 50 years by heir to the Guinness beer fortune Murtogh D. Guinness (1913-2002), the collection features scores of immaculately preserved historic automata--many of them produced in 19th Century France--with subjects ranging from snake charmers to magicians, singing birds to anthropomorphic monkeys, Cleopatra in her death throes to a waltz-playing Mephistopheles; it also includes a number of mechanical musical instruments and a variety of programmed media ranging from player piano rolls to pinned cylinders.

Earlier this year, Observatory brought a group to visit this collection in person; for those of you who were unable to join us--or who are hungry more!--we are bringing the automata closer to home. Tonight, we invite you to join Jere Ryder, Conservator of the Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata at the Morris Museum, for a live demonstration of antique automata drawn from both the Guinness Collection and his own personal collection. Mr. Ryder will detail the history of these bewitching toys with an illustrated lecture on their history, show an introductory video, and demonstrate and describe the mechanics that bring them to life.

Bio: As Conservator of the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata, Jere Ryder brings a lifetime of involvement within this specialized field. A keen interest developed after being introduced to them by collector parents, whom Mr. Guinness had encountered in the 1950s. He became a family friend, and served as mentor and inspiration for later study within the field. With no specialized teaching institutions dedicated to this particular realm, it was Jere's father, Hughes M. Ryder, who introduced he and his brother to major European families, collections and related museums, assisting his ability to enter into studies/apprenticeships to surviving, established field masters, modern manufacturers and successors of original firms dating to as early as 1800. Throughout junior high and high school he received objects for repair from regional dealers and distributors. He and his brother Stephen created a business partnership in 1973 and since have repaired, restored, appraised and advised for some of the finest collections, acquiring objects on behalf of state and privately-owned museums worldwide, and are internationally renowned for research projects and the ability to source rare instruments offering new paths of study.

Image: “Mechanical Singing Bird Jardiniere,” made by the firm of Bontems, Paris, France, circa 1880 & recently restored

You can find out more--and get directions to Observatory--by clicking here.

This just in from my friend Laurens De Rooy, curator of the fantastic Amsterdam-based Museum Vrolik, specimens of which are pictured above:

Museum Vrolik to close for ten months
Following in the footsteps of other top museums in Amsterdam, the Vrolik Museum will close for refurbishment and redesign from August 2011 to May 2012. The ten-month overhaul of the anatomy museum of the Academic Medical Centre aims to make the unique collection more appealing to a broader public. The 29th of July will be the last opportunity to visit the museum before it closes.

Museum Vrolik has been one of the AMC’s main attractions since 1984. Its collection includes items that are hundreds of years old, with more than ten thousand anatomical specimens in preservative, human and animal skeletons and skulls, and anatomical models and reconstructions. One of the museum’s treasures is the so-called Hovius display case, an 18th-century case full of bones and skulls ravaged by disease collected by physician Jacob Hovius. Of great scientific importance is the collection of congenital defects, including Siamese twins, cyclops and sirens.

An inspiring environment for all with an interest in disease, health, and the human body
With students of medicine and specialists the museum’s original target group, visitors without a medical background would often find the museum’s layout dated or even a little haphazard. Following its refurbishment, the museum should attract a much broader public, and serve as an easily accessible and inspiring learning environment for all with an interest in disease, health and the human body.
The main exhibition will feature the human body with all of its normalities and abnormalities, but the museum will also look into the history of its many different collections, honouring its original founders. The museum was named after Amsterdam professors Gerardus Vrolik (1775-1859) and his son Willem Vrolik (1801-1863), both anatomists and collectors. After their deaths, the Vrolik collection was expanded by other Amsterdam professors of anatomy.

The best exhibits now on show at the Special Collections UvA
During the closure of the museum a number of the museum’s top exhibits will be temporarily on display at the Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam (located at Oude Turfmarkt) which will host the exhibition ‘the discovery of man’ from 27 September 2011 to 15 January 2012. Together with Museum Vrolik, the Special Collections will exhibit anatomy atlases and specimens and explore how the dissection of the human body has changed man's view of himself. For further information, go to http://www.bijzonderecollecties.uva.nl.

Museum Vrolik
Academisch Medisch Centrum
Meibergdreef 15, J0-130 (Medical Faculty)
Open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Admission free
http://www.amc.nl/vrolik

If this museum and/or the photos above are of interest, make sure to check out the lavishly illustrated publication Forces of Form:The Vrolik Museum which includes these images and more; you can ind out more--or order a copy of your very own!--by clicking here.

Images:

1. Part of a face, with the eye, eyelids and eyebrows (Vrolik collection); Photo by Hans van den Bogaard (all rights reserved)
2. New-born conjoined twins , linked at the chest (thoracopagus) (Vrolik collection); Photo by Hans van den Bogaard (all rights reserved)

They can sit and stay – and are excellent at playing dead – but this room full of obedient dogs will never go walkies again. The odd-ball collection of 51 stuffed dogs is the star attraction at the picturesque Castle Bitov in the Czech Republic.

The castle’s last owner, the ever-so-slightly eccentric Baron Georg Haas, was an animal lover – to say the least. He was the proud owner of thousands of animals – including a lioness called Mietzi-Mausi, with whom it is said he enjoyed sharing lunch every day.

But his favourite style of four-legged friend was the humble canine, and he eventually had more than 200 in the castle grounds. It means the castle might well have been the hardest building to sneak into in the 1940s – certainly the hardest to walk around without looking down.

When the playful pets passed away, the baron buried the majority of them – their final resting places can still be seen in several cemeteries in the castle grounds, each with a wooden cross and small metal plate bearing their name.

But, for a select few, the baron had loftier plans – and the handiwork of the local taxidermist is still being enjoyed today. It’s clear that the baron did not play favourites. Spaniels, terriers, poodles, boxers – hounds of every shape and size – are included in the collection...

Georg Haas was as eccentric an aristocrat as they come. But he was also ahead of his time, designing a magnificent zoo for his animals, with terrariums, bird cages, and various paddocks that he filled with exotic creatures from around the world.

--"The perfectly preserved pooches of Castle Bitov," The Daily Mail, July 19th 2011

You can read the whole entire story--from which the above images were drawn--by clicking here. Click on images to see much larger, more detailed version.

Thanks to Eleanor Crook for bringing this to my attention!

Opening reception for Zoe Beloff's "Four Hysterical Dramas" at The Great Coney Island Spectacularium
Date: This Friday, July 22nd
Time: 7-10 PM
Where: The Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf Avenue
Admission: Free

This Friday, Morbid Anatomy and The Great Coney Island Spectacularium cordially invite you to an opening reception to celebrate the launch of our short-term exhibition of Zoe Beloff's installation "Four Hysterical Dramas" This exhibition will be on view at The Spectacularium from July 22nd until August 20th.

More on the exhibition following; hope to see you there!

Four Hysterical Dramas
Beloff will present four miniature theaters housing depictions of actual hysterics filmed by doctors in Belgium, Romania, and the United States. Updating a Victorian stage trick called "Pepper's Ghost", Beloff has transformed these patients into ghostly figures performing an endless loop of madness within the space of each diorama. Beloff was inspired by several remarkable developments at the end of the 19th century: the discovery of the unconscious by psychotherapists, doctors' emerging practice of filming their hysterical patients with motion picture cameras, and the public's fascination with madness which manifested itself in the emotive, hysterical behavior of actors in Parisian cabarets.

You can find out more about the event here and more about Zoe and her work here.

Much has been said about the sad and sudden passing of epic collector and friend to many (including myself!) Billy Jamieson. I am not sure I have anything to add to this often eloquent outpouring of disbelief and grief, except to add note of my own sadness, and to take this moment to mark his passing.

James Taylor put it best, perhaps, on his website "Shocked and Amazed":

Hearing of Bill Jamieson’s death yesterday was about as shocking an occurrence as can be imagined in this business. Still a young man, truly, and a man whose importance to collecting and “spreading the word” had yet to be fully felt, his passing leaves a hole at least 10X larger in the business than the enormous hoard of attractions he leaves behind...

My own experience with Billy was marked by kindness, generosity of spirit, and a sharp and roving intelligence. He loaned us a variety of artifacts from The Niagara Falls Museum--a circa 1827 dime museum whose entire contents he had purchased in 1999--for use in The Coney Island Spectacularium. He also joined us at Coney Island a few weeks back, where we enjoyed the pleasure of his company on the judges stand of The Mermaid Parade followed by a memorable and inspiring lecture in the museum.

I still cannot quite believe he is really dead. He was one of the most full-of-life and inspiring men it has ever been my pleasure to meet.

Rest in peace, Billy. You are--and will continue to be--sorely missed.

Photo sourced from Colorslab.

The Daily Mail's article "Get stuffed: The disturbing animals created when taxidermy goes wrong"--which profiles the activity of the Facebook group "Badly Stuffed Animals"--has been rapidly making the internet rounds. In an oddly proud moment, I found that the article showcases one of the more disturbing pieces from The Niagara Falls Museum that we have on show as part of The Great Coney Island Spectacularium. Can you guess which one it is? Hint: it is unable to stand on its own two legs...

To see this piece in person, come down to The Great Coney Island Spectacularium! You can read the article and see the full collection by clicking here.

Thanks to Eleanor Crook and Matt Haber for sending this my way.

All images from the article.

We have a few more slots open for our awesome all day field trip this Saturday. See following for details, and email me at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com if you'd like to come along!

FIELD TRIP: Day of Brains in Jars, Old Libraries, and Underground Crypts in New Haven, Connecticut
A chartered bus field trip to New Haven, Connecticut with guided tours of The Cushing Brain Collection, The Institute Library, and The Center Church Crypt and an unguided visit to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Date: This Saturday, July 16th
Time: 10:00 AM- 7 PM
Admission: $60
Presented by Morbid Anatomy
*** MUST RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com

This Saturday, July 16th join Observatory and Morbid Anatomy for a special field trip to New Haven, Connecticut. Our first stop will be the amazing Cushing Collection, with its over 500 human brains in glass jars and haunting pre- and post-operative photographs amassed by "father of modern neurosurgery" Dr. Harvey Cushing. We will be introduced to this collection-- newly open to the public--via a guided tour by Terry Dagradi, curator of the collection. Our next stop will be the historic and lovely Institute Library (founded 1826), Connecticut's oldest living independent literary institution and one of the last remaining membership libraries in North America, where director Will Baker will give us a tour followed by an opportunity for unguided exploration and lunch. Next, we will be treated to a special after-hours tour of the Center Church Crypt, an underground cemetery featuring 137 grave stones of New Haven's founders and earliest citizens going back to 1687. Our final stop will be an unguided visit to the incredible Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library before hopping on the bus for our return home.

Trip Details: The $60 event cost of this event includes round trip transportation on a special chartered bus from Observatory to New Haven and back again as well as tour costs. Please bring your lunch, which we will have an opportunity to eat at our second stop. The bus will pick up and drop off in front of the 543 Union Street (at Nevins Street) entrance to Observatory. Pick up is 10:00 AM sharp and drop off approximately 7:00 PM depending on traffic.

There is a limit for this trip, so please RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com if interested.

Images: Of and from The Cushing Collection as featured in The New York Times.

Just found out about this pretty great looking panel discussion featuring former Observatory lecturer Carl Schoonover and Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder auther Lawrence Wechsler:

What We leave Out: The Art of Science Fiction Writing
Date: Mon, Jul 18, 2011, 7 pm
Venue: 92YTribeca MAINSTAGE
Location: 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson Street
Event Code: TS12D11185

Scientific experimentation is as much about what we choose not to study as what we do—researchers must always ignore some elements of a problem to focus on others.

Similarly, writing is a process of taking out as much as putting in, of deciding what we can include and what we must leave untouched. Writers who work with the future tend to care most about a particular aspect—about changes in technology, society or the environment.

Panelists Anna North, Carl Schoonover and Lawrence Wechsler discuss the ways writers fashion a future by whittling down an infinity of possibilities until that which most interests them remains. Join them as they shed light on the processes of writing and experimentation and how the eventual results are only part of the story.

The panel takes place tomorrow night! You can purchase tickets here.

Thanks, Carl, for sending this--and the photograph--along.

Image; Credit: Thomas Deerinck and Mark Ellisman, 2008.
This image depiects non-neuronal cells in the cerebellum, an area in the back of the brain that play a role in motor coordination. These cells, called glia (yellow), support the activity of neurons, providing nutrients and oxygen. They have been illuminated using a highly, specific antibody-based staining technique, leaving everything else--including the neurons they nurture--invisible in the background (blue).

Hi all! Will be giving a free and open-to-the-public artist's talk augmented by artifacts drawn from the stores at the London Natural History Museum this Thursday at 2:30. Full details follow; hope very much to see you there!

The Secret Museum: Collections as Muse with artist Joanna Ebenstein
Artist Talk with Artifacts from the Stores
Museum of Natural History, London, Attenborough Studio
Thursday July 7
2:30 PM

Ancient wood and glass cases, elaborate labels from centuries past, rows of dusty bell jars, atmospherically decayed specimens, the unintentionally surreal and sublime vistas of the Museum backstage... these are the kinds of things that intrigue and inspire New York artist Joanna Ebenstein. Today, join her for a look at some of her artwork engaging with these themes. Also on view will be a variety of rarely seen artifacts specially drawn for this talk from the Natural History Museum's extensive and astounding stores.

More here.

Wow. I have just come across the exquisite, biologically-inspired glass work of Danish artist Steffan Dam. The work--organized into series titled "Flower Blocks," "Specimen Blocks," "Fossils" and "Marine Biology--reminds me quite a bit of the work of revered natural history artists Ernst Heackel and Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka.

Above are just a few of my favorite pieces; I highly encourage you to visit the website to see the full collection by clicking here; you can also download a PDF catalog of his work by clicking here.

Via Wunderkammer.

Cabinet Cards / Storydress II

albumen prints from wet-plate collodion negatives
4.25 x 6.5 inches, series of 5 mounted on cabinet cards
6.5 x 8.5 inches, series of 10 framed
2008

Storydress II is a series of photographs of a life-size paper mache and plaster sculpture. The dress is made of paper mache stories that I recorded of my great-grandmother’s autobiographical reminiscences. Each photograph contains legible words. The sculpture was photographed with the wet-plate collodion negative process, printed on handmade gold-toned Albumen paper, and burnished onto antique Cabinet Card mounts. For exhibition the cabinet card photographs are displayed using an antique wooden Graphoscope (magnifying device) and shelf.

Finding unknown relatives in my family photograph collection, and noticing old photographs of anonymous people in antique stores, I was taken by how many people were forgotten regardless of photography’s intention to “Secure the shadow, ‘ere the substance fades away.” The older the picture, the more forlorn the subject appeared to me. Holding their image, I was impressed with their absence. Storydress II tries to show this underlying subject of photographic portraiture. The 19th century cabinet card is turned inside out, revealing the presence of absence in a medium characterized by rigid detail and anonymity. The figure of reminiscence, cast in plaster, parallels the poetic immobility of the head clamp, used in early photography to prevent movement during long exposures, aptly defined by Barthes as “the corset of my imaginary existence”. The life size cast figure wears a paper mache dress made of family stories: recorded, torn up, and glued back together again. The tedious processes involved in making both the subject and photograph are offerings to time’s taking.

I really, really love this piece--which uses as its base a life-size paper mache and plaster sculpture!--and encourage you to visit Christine Elfman's website and click on "view close up here" to appreciate it fully. Or click on image to see a pleasing larger version.

Via Foxes in Breeches.

Hi All! Next Tuesday, July 5th, I will be giving a lecture at London's Science Museum in the museum's lecture theatre. The lecture if free and open to the public.

Full details follow; If you are free and in the neighborhood, why not stop by?

From Votives to Venuses: A Brief History of the Human Anatomical Model
An Illustrated Lecture by Joanna Ebenstein of The Morbid Anatomy Library
Date: 5th July
Time: 4 PM - 5 PM
The Science Museum’s Lecture Theatre
Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD (Map here)
Admission: Free and open to the public

In the 1690s, surgeon Guillaume Desnoues commissioned wax-worker Gaetano Zumbo to create a life-sized wax copy of one of his most important--and sadly deteriorating--human dissections. This partnership launched a long tradition of collaboration between artists and medical practitioners in the creation of extraordinary and uncannily lifelike anatomical models intended to preserve important anatomical preparations in perpetuity and to instruct and incite wonder in medical students and laypersons alike. Today, join artist and independent researcher Joanna Ebenstein for a lavishly illustrated walk through the world of these fascinating artifacts that are equal parts art and science and which flicker enticingly on the edges of relic and specimen, mysticism and medicine, life and death. This talk will discuss the histories of these objects and their makers as well as their uses and contexts of display; introduce you to many of the amazing museums that house these artifacts; and consider the ways in which these objects relate to a long tradition of religious, allegorical, and artistic approaches to mortality, supplication, and the quest for bodily immortalization.

To download a PDF with more on this and other associated talks, click here. You can find out more about The Science Museum by clicking here. For more information, please contact Selina Pang, Curatorial Coordinator at CuratorialServices@sciencemuseum.org.uk.

Image: "The Slashed Beauty," full-length anatomical model in the Josephinum Collection, Vienna, Austria; Wax model with human hair in rosewood and Venetian glass case; Workshop of Clemente Susini of Florence, 1781-1786 Photographed by Joanna Ebenstein

Anyone fancy a chartered bus trip to view the legendary Cushing Collection (pictured above), an underground crypt, and a couple of libraries thrown in for good measure? Yeah; me too! Hope very much to see you there.

FIELD TRIP: Day of Brains in Jars, Old Libraries, and Underground Crypts in New Haven, Connecticut
A chartered bus field trip to New Haven, Connecticut with guided tours of The Cushing Brain Collection, The Institute Library, and The Center Church Crypt and an unguided visit to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Date: Saturday, July 16th
Time: 10:00 AM- 7 PM
Admission: $60
Presented by Morbid Anatomy
*** 28 Person Limit; MUST RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com

On Saturday, July 16th join Observatory and Morbid Anatomy for a special field trip to New Haven, Connecticut. Our first stop will be the amazing Cushing Collection, with its over 500 human brains in glass jars and haunting pre- and post-operative photographs amassed by "father of modern neurosurgery" Dr. Harvey Cushing. We will be introduced to this collection-- newly open to the public--via a guided tour by Terry Dagradi, curator of the collection. Our next stop will be the historic and lovely Institute Library (founded 1826), Connecticut's oldest living independent literary institution and one of the last remaining membership libraries in North America, where director Will Baker will give us a tour followed by an opportunity for unguided exploration and lunch. Next, we will be treated to a special after-hours tour of the Center Church Crypt, an underground cemetery featuring 137 grave stones of New Haven's founders and earliest citizens going back to 1687. Our final stop will be an unguided visit to the incredible Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library before hopping on the bus for our return home.

Trip Details: The $60 event cost of this event includes round trip transportation on a special chartered bus from Observatory to New Haven and back again as well as tour costs. Please bring your lunch, which we will have an opportunity to eat at our second stop. The bus will pick up and drop off in front of the 543 Union Street (at Nevins Street) entrance to Observatory. Pick up is 10:00 AM sharp and drop off approximately 7:00 PM depending on traffic.

There is a 28 person limit for this trip, so please RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com if interested.

Images: Of and from The Cushing Collection as featured in The New York Times.