Category Archives: Anatomy

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.

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.

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).

Natalie Irish is a Houston based multi-media artist who, among other things, uses her lips to “paint” portraits. She applies lipstick and kisses the canvas, slowly creating the portrait.

You can see her work, including sculptures and bags, on her site, natalieirish.com.

[via BuzzFeed and Jezebel]

“Spine” Corset
Untitled, spring/summer 1998
Aluminum and black leather
Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

This is just one of the many gorgeous pieces by Alexander McQueen featured in the exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, titled Savage Beauty.  Curated by Andrew Bolton, the exhibit takes you through the periods of McQueen’s work and his inspirations in spaces decorated to accompany the fashion.

“I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists. I have to force people to look at things.”
—Alexander McQueen Harper’s Bazaar, April 2007

May 4–August 7, 2011 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

View more details about the show and gallery at the Met’s website.

[spotted by Angela]