Category Archives: Anatomy

A life-like umbilical cord iPhone charger.

Walk a heart powered by your own heartbeat.

Blood cells that respond to touch.

Mechanical tumor that pulsates in response to CPU usage.

Truly remarkable biologic artwork by Japan-based media installation artist, Mio I-zawa.  His installations invite the viewer to touch and interact with each piece thereby reminding the viewer of the complex and organic movements of life.  Those racing hearts are fantastic.

View more of Mio I-zawa’s work on his site, i-mi.org!

Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation, Hans Membing, c.1485, Oil on oak panel, Strasbourg, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg.

Via Darko is Dorko, Juggle.com, and Allartpainting.com.

This is absolutely the last weekend to view the much heralded (and not just by me) Museum of Everything Exhibition #3 in London. And, in a bittersweet farewell to this amazing exhibition, the folks at The Museum of Everything have put together a thoroughly action-packed final weekend featuring a variety of exciting programming.

Full details for the weekend's activities follow; and please, I implore you, if you live near London and have not yet seen this exhibitions, do yourself a favor and go! You won't be sorry. I promise.

>> VALENTINE’S WEEKEND <<

As far as we’re concerned, Valentine’s Weekend starts at 10:30am on Friday 11th February 2011; so fire up your hot-tub, cover yourself in love-gel and prepare yourself for what may well be the greatest weekend in the history of weekends.
For your delectation we shall have muzac - all day, every day - our favourite artistes performing in nooks and crannies right across the museum, be it accordion solos, tubas, one man bands, human jukeboxes, Punches, Judies, or perhaps just a lonely snare drum announcing the reveille.

And if you pop down at 4:00pm on Sunday 13th February 2011 you might be treated to a private viewing of that rarely seen gem - Pop Goes the Easel - directed by that randy rambunctious ruddy red rolicker, Ken Russell, as part of The Midgets & Giants Film Festival.

Who knows, the movie may even be introduced by Sir Peter Blake himself ...

For it is Sir Peter Blake who we have to thank for this astonishing show, for his brilliant eye, his enduring aesthetic, his wit, his love and his support. They say you never forget your first love and he is most certainly ours.

"The Museum of Everything was the highlight of my London trip, I can’t believe you’ll close! "Cindy Sherman, January 2011

Cindy’s right, this really is your very last chance to see the astonishing tapestries of Ted Willcox, the animal empire of Walter Potter, the magical funfair of Joby and Anna Carter and the miniature fairgrounds of Arthur Windley.

Come Monday monring, it’s adieu dear friends - perhaps for a few weeks, perhaps forever – because our plans are up in the air, we can’t commit, although we do have our roving eyes on Russia, the Americas, the Middle Yeast, even London’s glittering West End. The world is our Oyster Card ...

Until next time, we remain yours in Everything:

The Museum of Everything
right behind the library on the corner of Sharpleshall
Street & Regents Park Road in Primrose Hill London NW1
http://www.musevery.com

For more on the Museum of Everything #3, see this recent post.

Images are all drawn from postcards available at the Museum of Everything gift shop. A lovely (if slightly expensive) book is available also. Click here for more.

Tonight at Observatory! I advise coming early, as this one is sure to sell out; Hope to see you there!

A: Head on B: Body: The Real Life Dr. Frankenstein
A screening and lecture with film-maker Jim Fields and Mike Lewi
Date: TONIGHT, Thursday February 10
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

In an eventful and successful career spanning 40 years, Dr. Robert White–pioneering neurosurgeon and Professor at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University–did many things. He participated in Nobel Prize-nominated work, published more than 700 scholarly articles, examined Vladimir Lenin’s preserved brain in Cold War Russia, founded Pope John Paul II’s Committee on Bioethics, went to mass daily, and raised 10 children. He also engaged in a series of horrifying and highly controversial experiments reminiscent of a B-Movie mad scientist, experiments which pushed the limits of medical ethics, infuriated the animal rights community, and questioned notions of identity, consciousness, and corporeality as well as mankind’s biblically-condoned dominion over the animal kingdom.

Tonight, join film-maker Jim Fields–best known for his 2003 documentary “End of the Century” about the legendary punk band The Ramones–and Mike Lewi for a screening of Fields’ short documentary about the life and work of this real-life Dr. Frankenstein whose chilling “full body transplants” truly seem the stuff of a B-Movie terror. Fields will introduce the film–which features a series of interviews with Dr. White discussing his controversial experiments–with an illustrated lecture contextualizing the doctor’s work within the history of “mad scientists” past and present, fictional and actual; scientists whose hubris drove them to go rogue by tampering with things perhaps best left alone.

Jim Fields made a few documentaries, one of which, “End of the Century: the Story of the Ramones” is particularly long. He’s currently a video journalist at Time Magazine and Time.com.

Mike Lewi is a filmmaker, event producer, and disc jockey.

You can find out more about this event on the Observatory website by clicking here and can can access the event on Facebook here. You can get directions to Observatory--which is next door to the Morbid Anatomy Library (more on that here)--by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory here, join our mailing list by clicking here, and join us on Facebook by clicking here.

Image: Drawing by Dr. Harvey Cushing, early 20th Century, found on the Yale Medical Library website.

A very exciting looking call for art works just crossed my desk; full details below:

Curious Matter is announcing its new Call For Entries, "Naming The Animals." If you believe that this will be of interest to your artist members, please make it available to them. Thank you for your cooperation.
Curious Matter

We're absolutely delighted to announce this special collaboration between CURIOUS MATTER and PROTEUS GOWANUS. Details are below and attached as a pdf file. Cheers!

CALL FOR ENTRIES

Naming The Animals

Entries Due: March 4, 2011

Exhibition dates: April 3 - May 15, 2011*

Naming The Animals is a collaboration between Curious Matter in Jersey City, NJ and Proteus Gowanus in Brooklyn, NY. The exhibition will be presented in two parts concurrently at Curious Matter and Proteus Gowanus. The curators will select the location for the artwork. The exhibition is a complement to the yearlong multi-disciplinary inquiry hosted by Proteus Gowanus on the theme of Paradise. A catalogue will accompany the exhibition.

Theme: In our collective effort to understand the world we're driven to catalogue and name everything around us. From Adam’s task to name the animals in paradise, to cave painting to modern ecology and zoology, we’re compelled to describe and render the creatures that share our planet. Medieval bestiaries, and the work of Ernst Haeckel and John James Audubon are vivid examples, as are the installations of Mark Dion and the ecological works of Alexis Rockman. These various efforts are not necessarily purely aesthetic or scientific; naming and cataloguing can also include the assignment of moral or metaphorical associations–implicit is the desire to declare and understand ourselves.

We invite contemporary artists to submit work that draws inspiration from the natural world and the human drive to understand and catalogue the world around us. We're taking a broad approach to the theme and are particularly interested in work that looks beyond a literal interpretation.

Media/dimensions: All media will be considered. Artworks should not exceed 24"(framed) in any direction for wall hung work. Small sculptural work and bookarts particularly welcome, larger sculptures will be considered individually. Video artists must provide their own equipment.

Eligibility: All artists working in any media.

Submissions: (Please include all information. Late, incomplete, or weblink submissions will not be considered or responded to.)
1. Up to 5 images. Postal submissions should include 35mm slides or letter-sized color printouts. Do not send original artwork. Digital file submissions will only be accepted via email and must be in JPEG or PDF format, resolution set to 72 dpi, no larger than 800 X 800 pixels and no larger than 2MB. Please number images to correspond to Image List.
2. Image list. Numbered to correspond with your image submissions. Include image #, your name, title, date of work, medium, size and price. You may include a brief description for each image, however this isn’t required.
3. One page résumé. Please include a three line bio, your
contact information and an email address.
4. Artist’s statement. No longer than 300 words.

Fees: NO FEE TO ENTER, accepted artists pay a nominal materials fee of $35.

Deadline: Entries must be received no later than March 4, 2011.

Return of Submission Materials: Include a SASE if you want your materials to be returned. Make sure there is sufficient postage. Materials without postage will not be returned.

Notification: Accepted artists will be notified via email by March 7, 2011. NOTE: Accepted artists must confirm their participation by March 8 and provide a print-quality digital image for the catalogue by March 11.

Drop Off: Drop off of accepted artwork will be March 26 and 27, noon to 2pm at Curious Matter. Mailed artwork must arrive by March 25 and include return shipping label/postage/etc.

Pick Up: Artists are responsible for picking up artwork on May 21 noon to 2pm. Return of mailed artwork with return postage will begin on May 16, 2011.

Email Submissions To: CuriousMatter@comcast.net
By Post: Curious Matter, 272 Fifth Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302

* works selected for exhibition at Proteus Gowanus will remain on display until mid-July as part of the Paradise exhibition.

CURIOUS MATTER is an exhibition venue for contemporary visual art located in downtown Jersey City, NJ. Curious Matter exhibitions and publications evidence the pursuit to understand and articulate our individual and collective experience of the world, real or imagined. We examine fantastic notions, confounding ideas and audacious thoughts. Curious Matter strives to foster dialogue among artists at all career stages with a calendar of regular exhibitions. Our commitment extends to our audience as we endeavor to open a door to appreciating contemporary art in an atmosphere that encourages engagement and curiosity. The gallery is open Sundays noon to 3pm and by appointment during exhibitions. Curious Matter is a non-profit organization, and a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit service organization.

PROTEUS GOWANUS is a gallery and reading room located on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY. A collaborative project, the gallery develops exhibits of art, artifacts and books and hosts events that revolve around a yearlong theme linking the arts to other disciplines and to the community. Proteus Gowanus incorporates the rich and diverse cultural resources of several non-profit organizations into its exhibits and programming. This year’s theme is PARADISE, an exploration of the light and dark sides of spiritual ascent and sensual escape, in which we invite artists and workers in other disciplines to respond to the siren song of that which is easy to imagine but difficult to attain.

CURIOUS MATTER
272 Fifth Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302,
[T] 201-659-5771 [E] curiousmatter@comcast.net
curiousmatter.blogspot.com
follow us on facebook!

There is no fee to enter, and submissions are due on March 4th; Click here for more information. To find out more about Proteus Gowanus gallery, click here; to fine out more about Curious Matter, click here.

Image: Illustration by artist/naturalist/monist Ernst Haeckel, 19th Century, via zannestars.com.

These bionic women collages by Fernando Vicenti are really interesting to look at.  It’s like the future of online dating—being able to actually create your perfect mate! Vicenti is a wonderful Madrid-based illustrator that also created Vanitas, a featured post from the past.

Check out the other illustrations in his Anatomy collection at Behance.