Category Archives: Anatomy

People often ask me how I first became interested in the topics that would lead me to launch the Morbid Anatomy blog and related projects, such as The Secret Museum and Anatomical Theatre exhibitions. When I am asked this question, I usually rattle off a few of my major serendipitous inspirations: my first trip to Europe and the death-symbolism-packed churches and osteo-architecture I was surprised to find there; The gift of a Mütter Museum Calendar for my birthday one year from a well-meaning friend; And, last but never least, the discovery of Stephen Asma's wonderful, incredible, perfect book Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: the Culture and History of Natural History Museums.

Asma's book has had such a profound impact on my work that it is difficult to exaggerate its importance. The book is a conversationally toned yet extremely scholarly "natural history of natural history museums," covering, with wit and intelligence, the history of specimens preparation and the artists and pioneers of the medium, the evolution of the museum from Cabinet to comparative anatomy collection to today's science museum, the history and follies of taxonomy, and what the drive to order the world reveals about human nature. Over the course of the book, Asma introduces us to a number of incredible museums I have now--inspired largely by this book!--visited and photographed many times, such as London's Hunterian Museum and Paris' Hall of Comparative Anatomy, and all this in an accessible, enthralling, humorous, and fascinating way.

This is why I am so extremely delighted that Stephen Asma will be visiting Observatory this Thursday, April 22, to deliver his much-anticipated lecture "Museums, Monsters and the Moral Imagination." This heavily-illustrated lecture will draw on the scholarship of both Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads and new book, On Monsters, to examine how science museums and monsters both illustrate the essential yet problematic human "urge to classify, set boundaries, and draw lines between the natural and the unnatural the human" and to "try to excavate some of the moral uses and abuses of this impulse."

Both of Dr. Asma's books will be available for sale and signing at the event. Full details follow; hope very much to see you there!

Museums, Monsters and the Moral Imagination
An Illustrated lecture with Professor Stephen Asma, author of Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: the Culture and History of Natural History Museums and On Monsters.
Date: Thursday, April 22
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

In this illustrated lecture, professor Stephen Asma–author of the the definitive study of the natural history museum Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: the Culture and History of Natural History Museums–will draw upon his studies of science museums and monsters to reflect on their often hidden moral aspects. Museums are saying more about values than many people notice, and the same can be said about our cultural fascinations with monsters. The urge to classify, set boundaries, and draw lines between the natural and the unnatural are age-old impulses. In this lecture, Dr. Asma will try to excavate some of the moral uses and abuses of this impulse.

Stephen T. Asma is the author of Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: the Culture and History of Natural History Museums (Oxford) and more recently On Monsters: an Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears (Oxford). He is Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago and Fellow of the LAS Research Group in Mind, Science and Culture at Columbia. You can find out more about him at his website, http://www.stephenasma.com.

You can find out more about this presentation here. You can get directions to Observatory--which is next door to the Morbid Anatomy Library--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. To find out more about Asma's fantastic books, click here and here.

Image: From The Secret Museum; Pathological Cabinet, the Museum of the Faculty of Medicine at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow. © Joanna Ebenstein

I came across Lady Grey Jewelry by accident and was super excited to explore their mortality and anatomy collections.  The overall look is inspired by objects of decay that would normally seem dark and disturbing to some, but then turns it into wearable and modern jewelry.  The team is made up of Jill Martinelli and Sabine Le Guyader who work out of their studio in Brooklyn, NY.  They feel they are exposing the “beauty of the discarded by glorifying it” and show that jewelry does not have to be polished to be beautiful.  Very nice stuff!

Click on image or here to download full-sized broadside as seen above. Prints up to 11 X 17.

Morbid Anatomy and Observatory are pleased to present, in conjunction with the Coney Island Museum, "The Congress for Curious People!"

Tomorrow, Saturday April 17th, our 2-day open-to-the public conference will begin at 11:00 AM at the Coney Island Museum. The conference will examine, in a series of thematic panel sessions, curiosity and curiosities broadly considered. Participants will include artist/collector Joe Coleman, the Freakatorium's Johnny Fox, author of Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy Melissa Milgrom, curator of the incomparable Dream Anatomy Mike Sappol, author of Weird and Wonderful: The Dime Museum in America Andrea Stulman Dennett and Obscura Antiques and Oddities' Evan Michelson and Mike Zohn. See below for full details and schedule.

Also on view will be the "Collectors Cabinet"on view for the entirety of the event, showcasing astounding objects held in private collections, and, at partner space Observatory, "The Secret Museum," an exhibition exploring the poetics of hidden, untouched and curious collections from around the world in photographs and artifacts.

Full details follow: Hope very, very much to see you there!!!

CONGRESS FOR CURIOUS PEOPLE 2-DAY SYMPOSIUM

Date: Saturday April 17th and Sunday April 18th
Location: Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf Ave. Brooklyn ADMISSION: $25 for full weekend admission
Presented by Morbid Anatomy and Observatory with Coney Island USA
The Congress for Curious People is a 2-day symposium exploring education and spectacle, collectors of curiosities, historical fairground displays and more, in conjunction with The Coney Island Museum. The symposium will feature panels of humanities scholars discussing with the audience the intricacies of collecting, the history of ethnographic display, the interface of spectacle and education, and the politics of bodily display in the amusement parks, museums, and fairs of the Western world. Also on view in the museum will be "The Collector's Cabinet," an installation of astounding artifacts held in private collections. In conjunction with the events at the Coney Island Museum, Observatory's Gallery space will host "The Secret Museum," an exhibition exploring the poetics of hidden, untouched and curious collections from around the world.

The Congress for Curious People will serve as an academic counterpoint to Coney Island's Congress of Curious Peoples, which Coney Island USA has convened since 2007 at Sideshows by the Seashore. In the past, the Congress has included performances by artists like Joe Coleman and Harley Newman, feats of strength, and world-record breaking attempts, among others. You can find out more about the Congress of Curious Peoples at http://www.coneyisland.com/congress.shtml.

Saturday, April 17th 11 AM-12:30 PM – Education and Spectacle in 19th and 20th Century Amusements, Lectures and Panel Discussion
Eva Åhrén, author of Death, Modernity, and the Body : Sweden 1870-1940
Andrea Stulman Dennett, author of Weird and Wonderful: The Dime Museum in America
Amy Herzog, author of Dreams of Difference, Songs of the Same: The Musical Moment in Film
Kathy Maher, Executive Director of the Barnum Museum
Moderated by Betsy Bradley, New York Public Library

LUNCH 2-3:30 PM– Cabinets of Curiosity: Collecting Curiosities in the 21st Century, Lectures and Panel Discussion
Joe Coleman, collector and artist
Johnny Fox, collector, performer, founder of The Freakatorium
Evan Michelson, Antique and Oddity Dealer, Obscura Antiques and Oddities and Morbid Anatomy Library scholar in residence
Melissa Milgrom, author of Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy
Mike Zohn, Antique and Oddity Dealer, Obscura Antiques and Oddities
Moderated by Aaron Beebe, Director of the Coney Island Museum

4-5:30 PM – Freaks and Monsters: The Politics of Bodily Display, Lectures and Panel Discussion
Mike Chemers, author of Staging Stigma: A Critical History of the American Freak Show
Nadja Durbach, author of Spectacle of Deformity: Freak Shows and Modern British Culture
Michael Sappol, Historian of the National Library of Medicine and author of A Traffic of Dead Bodies: Anatomy and Embodied Social Identity in Nineteenth-Century America
Moderated by Jennifer Miller, Bearded Lady and founder of Circus Amok

6-8 PM Drinks and light fare

Sunday, April 18th 12-2 PM – A History of Cultural Display in World’s Fairs and Sideshows, Lectures and Panel Discussion
Lucian Gomoll, University of California at Santa Cruz
Alison Griffiths, author of Wondrous Difference: Cinema, Anthropology, and Turn of the Century Visual Culture
Barbara Mathé, Archivist, American Museum of Natural History
Moderated by Aaron Glass, author of The Totem Pole: An Intercultural Biography and In Search of the Hamat’sa: A Tale of Headhunting

2 PM – Closing remarks

RELATED EXHIBITIONS

The Secret Museum
An exhibition exploring the poetics of hidden, untouched and curious collections from around the world in photographs and artifacts, by Joanna Ebenstein, co-founder of Observatory and creator of Morbid Anatomy.
Location: Observatory
Opening Party: Saturday, April 10, 7-10; on view On view from April 10th-May 16th, 3-6 Thursday and Friday, 12-6 Saturday and Sunday
Admission: Free

The Collectors Cabinet
An exhibition which will showcase astounding objects held in private collections, including artifacts featured in Joanna Ebenstein's Private Cabinet photo series of 2009. Featured cabinetists include Curious Expeditions and Observatory's Michelle Enemark and Dylan Thuras, Obscura Antiques and Oddities, and Morbid Anatomy and Observatory's Joanna Ebenstein.
LOCATION: * Coney Island Museum, Brooklyn

Image: "Femme à Barbe, Musée Orfila.Courtesy of Paris Descartes University.

To find out more about this event and the larger Congress of Curious Peoples, and to get directions, click here. For more about the Congress for Curious People, click here. Click on image or click here to download a hi-res copy of the above broadside.

Tonight at Coney! The final lecture in the Congress for Curious People series; tomorrow the symposium--as detailed in this recent post--begins! Hope to see you there!

Charles Wilson Peale and the Birth of the American Museum
An Illustrated Presentation by Samuel Strong Dunlap, PhD, Descendant of Charles Wilson Peale
Date: Friday, April 16th
Time: 7:00 PM
LOCATION: The Coney Island Museum
Long time historian and editor of the Peale Family Papers Dr. Lillian B. Miller (now deceased) described Charles Willson Peale as a true renaissance man. Peale is perhaps best remembered today as the founder of America’s first cabinet-of-curiosity like museum–the Philadelphia Museum (later the Peale Museum)–which housed a diverse collection of botanical, biological, and archaeological specimens and can be viewed in the image above. Famously, Peale’s museum also pioneered the habitat group–or natural history diorama–an art form memorably perfected by such museums as the American Museum of Natural History and Chicago’s Field Museum in the early 20th Century.

In this illustrated lecture, we will learn about Peale the museologist, and examine how his museological work continuously overlap with his inventive, artistic, scientific, literary and exploratory interests. Peale was a friend or acquaintance with most of the military, scientific, diplomatic and foreign individuals who played significant roles in our revolutionary war and the early growth of our democracy.

To find out more about this event and the larger Congress of Curious Peoples--including nightly performances and the epic opening night party--click here. For more about the Congress for Curious People, click here. Click on image or click here to download a hi-res copy of the above broadside. For information about the Coney Island Museum--including address and directions--click here.

Image: The Artist in His Museum (self-portrait, 1822)

This shirt is pretty rad, love the colors going on, and it’s up for grabs for 10 bucks on shirt woot! Her site has some sweet line-work on it as well. I love the Roam shirt, buffalo win!

[thanks for the link Aman]

Tonight is night four of the Congress for Curious People! To celebrate, come to the Coney Island Museum at 7:00 PM to see Pat Morris--British biologist, collector, and self-publisher of several books on taxidermy--as he parses the world of taxidermy and asks, in a heavily illustrated lecture "is taxidermy art, science, or bad taste?"

Pat Morris is a specialist on taxidermy of all sorts, and has literally written the book on Walter Potter, my favorite Victorian taxidermist, who's incredible tableaux "The Kitten Tea Party" and "The Death of Cock Robin (top and third down, respectively) you see above. Tonight his lecture will focus on the work and curiosity collection of Mr. Potter; he will also be selling (and signing, if you wish!) his difficult-to-come-by and amazing heavily-illustrated books about Potter's work, life, and curiosity collection. Also, there will be half-price drinks at the bar till 7!

Do you need further enticing to get you down to Coney Island tonight?

Full details follow; hope to see you there!

A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste
An Illustrated Presentation By Dr. Pat Morris, Royal Holloway, University of London
Date: Thursday, April 15th
Time: 7:00 PM
LOCATION: The Coney Island Museum
Should taxidermy be viewed as art, science, or bad taste? And why is it so interesting? Dr. Pat Morris’ illustrated lecture “A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste” will explore these topics and more. His talk will range over the history of stuffed animals, considering how a small-time taxidermist business operated in the 19th century and exploring the many diverse and amusing uses of taxidermy and the taxidermist’s products ranging from major museum exhibits to stuffed pets, hunting trophies, animal furniture, kitten weddings (see above, Walter Potter, circa 1890s), frogs eating spaghetti and squirrels playing cards. He will discuss in detail the work of anthropomorphic taxidermist Walter Potter and his eponymous “Museum of Curiosities,” as detailed in his own lavishly illustrated book on that topic, which will be available for sale at the lecture.

Dr. Pat Morris is a retired staff member of Royal Holloway College (University of London), where he taught biology undergraduates and supervised research on mammal ecology. In that capacity he has published many books and scientific papers and featured regularly in radio and TV broadcasts. The history of taxidermy has been a lifelong hobby interest and he has published academic papers and several books on the subject. With his wife Mary he has travelled widely, including most of Europe and the USA, seeking interesting taxidermy specimens and stories. They live in England where their house is home to the largest collection and archive of historical taxidermy in Britain.

To find out more about this event and the larger Congress of Curious Peoples--including nightly performances and the epic opening night party--click here. For more about the Congress for Curious People, click here. Click on image or click here to download a hi-res copy of the above broadside. For information about the Coney Island Museum--including address and directions--click here.