"Bartitsu" Victorian self-defense system demonstration (see above) with Ghoul A Go-Go's Vlad Tsepis and Bartitsu Club Of New York!"Lover's
Eye" illustrated lecture and show and tell! Taxidermy, hair
art, anthropomorphic insect shadow box AND bat skeleton dome workshops!
Rest in Pieces book party! Special London-based series this June and July! Morbid Anatomy Presents this Week and Beyond at locations around the world...
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Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class with Divya AnantharamanDate: Saturday, April 6
Time: 1-5 PM
Admission: $110
***Please note: This class will be held offsite at Acme Studio : 63 N. 3rd Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Advance Tickets Required; Click here to purchase
Email divya.does.taxidermy at gmail dot com with questions or to be put on wait list
Class limit: 10
This class is part of the Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
Anthropomorphic
taxidermy--in which taxidermied animals are posed into human attitudes
and poses--was an artform made famous by Victorian taxidermist and
museologist Walter Potter. In this class, students will learn to
create--from start to finish--anthropomorphic mice inspired by the
charming and imaginative work of Mr. Potter and his ilk. With the
creative use of props and some artful styling, you will find that your
mouse can take nearly whatever form you desire, from a bespectacled,
whiskey swilling, top hat tipping mouse to a rodent mermaid queen of the
burlesque world.
In this class, Divya Anantharaman--who learned her craft under the tutelage of famed Observatory instructor Sue Jeiven--will
teach students everything involved in the production of a fully
finished mount, including initial preparation, hygiene and sanitary
measures, fleshing, tail stripping, and dry preservation. Once properly
preserved, the mice will be posed and outfitted as the student desires.
Although a broad selection of props and accessories will be provided by
the instructor, students are also strongly encouraged to bring their own
accessories and bases; all other materials will supplied. Each student
will leave class with a fully finished piece, and the knowledge to
create their own pieces in the future.
Divya Anantharaman
is a Brooklyn based artist whose taxidermy practice was sparked by a
lifelong fascination with natural mythology and everyday oddities. After
a journey filled with trial and error, numerous books, and an inspiring
class (Sue Jeiven's popular Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class at
Observatory!), she has found her calling in creating sickly sweet and
sparkly critters. Beginning with mice and sparrows, her menagerie grew
to include domestic cats, woodchucks, and deer. Recently profiled on
Vice Fringes, the New York Observer, and other publications, she will
also be appearing in the upcoming season of Oddities-and is definitely
up to no good shenanigans. You can find out more at www.d-i-v-y-a.com
Also, some technical notes:
- We use NO harsh or dangerous chemicals.
- Everyone will be provided with gloves.
- All animals are disease free.
- Although there will not be a lot of blood or gore, a strong constitution is necessary; taxidermy is not for everyone
- All animals were already dead, nothing was killed for this class.
- Please do not bring any dead animals with you to the class.
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Class: The Victorian Art of Hair Jewelry with Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann
Date: Sunday, April 7
Time: 1-5 PM
Admission: $75
***Must RSVP to Laetitia [at] atlasobscura.com to be added to class list; 15 person limit
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
Hair
jewelry was an enormously popular form of commemorative art that began
in the late 17th century and reached its zenith during the Victorian
Era. Hair, either of someone living or deceased, was encased in metal
lockets or woven to enshrine the human relic of a loved one. This class
will explore a modern take on the genre.
The technique of "palette
working" or arranging hair in artful swoops and curls will be explored
and a variety of ribbons, beads, wire and imagery of mourning
iconography will be supplied for potential inclusion. A living or
deceased person or pet may be commemorated in this manner.
Students
are requested to bring with them to class their own hair, fur, or
feathers; all other necessary materials will be supplied. Hair can be
self-cut, sourced from barber shops or hair salons (who are usually
happy to provide you with swept up hair), from beauty supply shops (hair
is sold as extensions), or from wig suppliers. Students will leave
class with their own piece of hair jewelry and the knowledge to create
future projects.
Karen Bachmann is
a fine jeweler with over 25 years experience, including several years
on staff as a master jeweler at Tiffany and Co. She is a Professor in
the Jewelry Design Dept at Fashion Institute of Technology as well as
the School of Art and Design at Pratt Institute. She has recently
completed her MA in Art History at SUNY Purchase with a thesis entitled
Hairy Secrets:... In her downtime she enjoys collecting biological
specimens, amateur taxidermy and punk rock.
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Naturalistic Squirrel taxidermy class with Divya AnantharamanDate: Sunday, April 7Admission: $250 (Limited to 5 Students)
***Tickets MUST be pre-ordered by clicking here
You can also pre-pay in person at the Observatory during open hours.
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
In this intimate, hands-on class (limited to only five students), we will study the nutty ways of the squirrel! Students will create a fully-finished classic squirrel mount in a natural sitting position. Students will learn everything involved in producing a finished mount - from initial preparation, hygiene and sanitary measures, to proper technique and dry preservation. The class will teach how to use and modify a pre-made form to suit the nuances of each unique animal. The use of anatomical study, reference photos, and detailed observation will also be reviewed as important tools in recreating the natural poses and expressions that magically reanimate a specimen. A selection of natural props will be provided, however, students are welcome to bring their own bases and accessories if something specific is desired. All other supplies will be provided for use in class.
Each student will leave class with a fully-finished piece, and the knowledge to create their own pieces in the future.
Divya Anantharaman is a Brooklyn based artist whose taxidermy practice was sparked by a lifelong fascination with natural mythology and everyday oddities. After a journey filled with trial and error, numerous books, and an inspiring class (Sue Jeiven's popular Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class at Observatory!), she has found her calling in creating sickly sweet and sparkly critters. Beginning with mice and sparrows, her menagerie grew to include domestic cats, woodchucks, and deer. Recently profiled on Vice Fringes, the New York Observer, and other publications, she will also be appearing in the upcoming season of Oddities-and is definitely up to no good shenanigans. You can find out more at www.d-i-v-y-a.com
Also, some technical notes:
- We use NO harsh or dangerous chemicals.
- Everyone will be provided with gloves.
- All animals are disease free.
- Although there will not be a lot of blood or gore, a strong constitution is necessary; taxidermy is not for everyone
- All animals were already dead, nothing was killed for this class.
Image found here.
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Bartitsu-The
Victorian Self Defense System: A lecture and Demonstration by The
Bartitsu Club of New York and Ghoul A Go Go’s Vlad Tsepis
Date: Sunday April 7th
Time: 8.00
Admission: $10
Presented by Morbid Anatomy and the Bartitsu Club Of New York
Bartitsu
was a Victorian system of self defense. Taught in the late 1890s, it is
regarded by some as the first mixed martial arts system. Originally
learned by gentlemen, and gentle women, as a way to fend off footpads
and other thugs of the day, Bartitsu is now seeing a revival.
The Bartitsu Club of New York is gearing up for a Spring seminar and invites you to Observatory for a preview. Introduced by Vlad Tsepis of Ghoul A Go-Go,
the Bartitsu Club will present a basic introduction to Bartitsu and its
founder, as well as the historical background of self defense in
Victorian England. Some techniques will be demonstrated as a prelude to
what you can learn more in depth. You will leave knowing "an excellent
method of forcing an undesirable person out of your room."
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Love’s Unknowable Eye: The Curious History and Mysterious Allure of 18th century “Lovers Eyes” Illustrated lecture and Genuine "Lover's Eye" Show and Tell with Artist Lauren Levato
Date: Thursday, April 11th
Time: 8.00
Admission: $8
Presented by Morbid Anatomy
Date: Thursday, April 11th
Time: 8.00
Admission: $8
Presented by Morbid Anatomy
Tonight
at Observatory, we invite you to join us for a highly illustrated talk
on what were historically called "eye miniatures," now called “lover’s
eyes.” These beautiful portrait miniatures, featuring only the eye of
the sitter, enjoyed a brief stint of outrageous popularity in the 18th
century after a scandal involving the Prince of Wales, an illicit love
affair, and a dramatic suicide attempt over the rejected love of a
forbidden woman. Often created as tokens of memory for unsanctioned
love, these gorgeous paintings—intensely intimate yet mysteriously
anonymous—were lushly rendered on such media as ivory or copper. More
than just treasures or statements of wealth, they were symbols of
devotion, marriage, death, infidelity, memory, and promise. Nearly all
of these enigmatic eyes are from lovers unknown, fictions that lure us
with a fixed gaze, unyielding in its mystery and desire. Although the
feverish mania for these objects ended nearly as quickly as it began,
they continue to inspire, serving as muse to contemporary artists,
photographers, painters and tattooists who explore the concept in
thoroughly contemporary manners.
Tonight, Chicago based artist
Lauren Levato--who curates a private collection containing thousands of
objects of erotic affection, including several lover’s eyes set in
brooches, rings, pill boxes, and bracelets--will trace the history and
phenomenon of Lover’s Eyes, of which only an estimated 1,000 are known
to still exist.
Lauren will also bring some authentic 18th century Lover’s Eyes for your delectation.
Lauren Levato
is a visual artist and writer. She is working on her exhibition for
the International Museum of Surgical Science, opening in December, and
has begun her own collection of lover’s eyes in tattoo form, as a type
of signature of some of today’s best working tattooers.
Image: Unknown "Lover's Eye" on braided hair bracelet, Georgian period; Private collection
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Date: Sunday, April 14
Time: 12 – 6 PM
Admission: $350
***Class Limited to 5; Must RSVP to katie.innamorato [at] gmail.com
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
This
course will introduce students to basic and fundamental taxidermy
techniques and procedures. Students will be working with donated raccoon
skins and will be going through the steps to do a head mount. The class
is only available to 5 students, allowing for more one on one
interaction and assistance. Students will be working with tanned and
lightly prepped skin; there will be no skinning of the animals in class.
This is a great opportunity to learn the basic steps to small and large
mammal taxidermy. All materials will be supplied by the instructor, and
you will leave class with your own raccoon head mount.
Rogue taxidermist Katie Innamorato
has a BFA in sculpture from SUNY New Paltz, has been featured on the
hit TV show "Oddities," and has had her work featured at La Luz de Jesus
gallery in Los Angeles, California. She is self and professionally
taught, and has won multiple first place ribbons and awards at the
Garden State Taxidermy Association Competition. Her work is focussed on
displaying the cyclical connection between life and death and growth and
decomposition. Katie is a member of the Minnesota Association of Rogue
Taxidermists, and with all M.A.R.T. members she adheres to strict
ethical guidelines when acquiring specimens and uses roadkill, scrap,
and donated skins to create mounts.
Her website and blogs-
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Bat in Glass Dome Workshop
Part of DIY Wunderkammer Series: With Wilder Duncan (formerly of
Evolution Shop, Soho) and Laetitia Barbier, head librarian at The Morbid
Anatomy Library
With Wilder Duncan (formerly of Evolution Store, Soho) and Laetitia Barbier, head librarian at The Morbid Anatomy Library
Date: Sunday, April 21
Time: 1 – 6 PM
Admission: $200
*** MUST RSVP to Laetitia [at] atlasobscura.com
This class is part of the DIY Wunderkammer Series and The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
In
this class, students will learn how to create an osteological
preparation of a bat in the fashion of 19th century zoological displays.
A bat skeleton, a glass dome, branches, glue, tools, and all necessary
materials will be provided for each student, but one should feel welcome
to bring small feathers, stones, dried flowers, dead insects, natural
elements, or any other materials s/he might wish to include in his/her
composition. Students will leave the class with a visually striking,
fully articulated, “lifelike” bat skeleton posed in a 10” tall glass
dome. This piece can, in conjunction with the other creations in the DIY
Wunderkammer workshop series, act as the beginning of a genuine
collection of curiosities!
This class is part of the DIY Wunderkammer workshop series, curated by Laetitia Barbier and Wilder Duncan
for Morbid Anatomy as a creative and pluridisciplinary exploration of
the Curiosity Cabinet. The classes will focus on teaching ancient
methods of specimen preparation that link science with art: students
will create compositions involving natural elements and, according to
their taste, will compose a traditional Victorian environment or a
modern display. More on the series can be found here.
Wilder Duncan
is an artist whose work puts a modern-day spin on the genre of Vanitas
still life. Although formally trained as a realist painter at Wesleyan
University, he has had a lifelong passion for, and interest in, natural
history. Self-taught rogue taxidermist and professional specimen
preparator, Wilder worked for several years at The Evolution Store
creating, repairing, and restoring objects of natural historical
interest such as taxidermy, fossils, seashells, minerals, insects,
tribal sculptures, and articulated skeletons both animal and human.
Wilder continues to do work for private collectors, giving a new life to
old mounts, and new smiles to toothless skulls.
Laetitia Barbier is the head librarian at The Morbid Anatomy Library. She is working on a master's thesis for the Paris Sorbonne on painter Joe Coleman. She writes for Atlas Obscura and Morbid Anatomy.
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A Fate Worse Than Death: The Perils of Being a Famous Corpse with Bess Lovejoy, Author of Rest in Pieces
With Bess Lovejoy, author of Rest in Pieces
Date: Friday, April 26th
Time: 8pm
Admission: $10
Presented by Morbid Anatomy and Phantasmaphile
Most
of us know what our afterlives are going to be like: eternity in the
ground, or resting in an urn on some relative’s mantelpiece. If we’re
lucky, our children might occasionally bring us flowers or a potted
plant, and that’s about as interesting as things are going to get.
Not
so the famous deceased. For millennia, they’ve been bought and sold,
worshipped and reviled, studied, collected, stolen, and dissected.
They’ve been the star attractions at museums and churches, and used to
found cemeteries, cities, even empires. Pieces of them have languished
in libraries and universities, in coolers inside closets, and in
suitcases underneath beds. For them, eternity has been anything but
easy.
The more notable or notorious the body, the more likely it
is that someone’s tried to disturb it. Consider the near-snatching of
Abraham Lincoln, or the attempt on Elvis’s tomb. Then there’s Descartes,
who is missing his head, and Galileo, who is spending eternity without
his middle finger. Napoleon’s missing something a bit lower, as is the
Russian mystic Rasputin, at least if the rumors are true. Meanwhile,
Jesse James has had three graves, and may not have been in any of them,
while it took a court case and an exhumation to prove that Lee Harvey
Oswald was in his.
In this illustrated lecture, Bess Lovejoy will draw on her new book, Rest in Pieces,
to discuss the many threats faced by famous corpses--from furta sacra
("holy theft" of saintly relics), to skull-stealing phrenologists,
"Resurrection Men" digging up cadavers for medical schools, modern organ
harvesters, the depredations of crazed fans, and much more.
Rest in Pieces will also be available for sale, and wine will be served in celebration of its release.
Bess Lovejoy is a writer, researcher, and editor based in Seattle. She writes about dead people, forgotten history, and sometimes art, literature, and science. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Believer, The Boston Globe, The Stranger, and other publications. She worked on the Schott’s Almanac series for five years. Visit her at BessLovejoy.com.
Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop with Former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy TaintonWith Daisy Tainton, Senior Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural HistoryDate: Saturday, May 11th
Time: 1 – 4 PM
Admission: $75
***Tickets MUST be pre-ordered by clicking here
You can also pre-pay in person at the Observatory during open hours.
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
Today, join former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton for Observatory’s popular Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop. In this class, students will work with Rhinoceros beetles: nature’s tiny giants. Each student will learn to make–and leave with their own!–shadowbox dioramas featuring carefully positioned beetles doing nearly anything you can imagine. Beetles and shadowboxes are provided, and an assortment of miniature furniture, foods, and other props will be available to decorate your habitat. Students need bring nothing, though are encouraged to bring along dollhouse props if they have a particular vision for their final piece; 1:12 scale work best.
BEETLES WILL BE PROVIDED. Each student receives one beetle approximately 2-3 inches tall when posed vertically.
Daisy Tainton was formerly Senior Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural History, and has been working with insects professionally for several years. Eventually her fascination with insects and love of Japanese miniature food items naturally came together, resulting in cute and ridiculous museum-inspired yet utterly unrealistic dioramas. Beetles at the dentist? Beetles eating pie and knitting sweaters? Even beetles on the toilet? Why not?
Date: Sunday, June 2
Time: 12-4 PM
Admission: $75
***Must pre-order tickets here: http://victorianmourningjewelry.bpt.me
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
Hair
jewelry was an enormously popular form of commemorative art that began
in the late 17th century and reached its zenith during the Victorian
Era. Hair, either of someone living or deceased, was encased in metal
lockets or woven to enshrine the human relic of a loved one. This class
will explore a modern take on the genre.
The technique of "palette
working" or arranging hair in artful swoops and curls will be explored
and a variety of ribbons, beads, wire and imagery of mourning
iconography will be supplied for potential inclusion. A living or
deceased person or pet may be commemorated in this manner.
Students
are requested to bring with them to class their own hair, fur, or
feathers; all other necessary materials will be supplied. Hair can be
self-cut, sourced from barber shops or hair salons (who are usually
happy to provide you with swept up hair), from beauty supply shops (hair
is sold as extensions), or from wig suppliers. Students will leave
class with their own piece of hair jewelry and the knowledge to create
future projects.
Karen Bachmann is a fine jeweler with over 25 years experience, including several years on staff as a master jeweler at Tiffany and Co. She is a Professor in the Jewelry Design Dept at Fashion Institute of Technology as well as the School of Art and Design at Pratt Institute. She has recently completed her MA in Art History at SUNY Purchase with a thesis entitled Hairy Secrets:... In her downtime she enjoys collecting biological specimens, amateur taxidermy and punk rock.
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A series of London-based events, workshops, special tours, screenings and spectacles surveying the interstices of art and medicine, death and culture curated by Observatory's Morbid Anatomy
Date: June 2 - July 25
Time: Variable, but most lectures begin at 7 PM
Location: The Last Tuesday Society at 11 Mare Street, London, E8 4RP map here) unless otherwise specified
The series will feature Morbid Anatomy's signature mix of museum professionals, professors, librarians, artists, rogue scholars, and autodidacts--many flown in direct from Morbid Anatomy's base in Brooklyn, New York--to elucidate on a wide array of topics including (but not limited to!) The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead; "human zoos;" "speaking reliquaries;" why music drives women mad; eccentric folk medicine collections; Santa Muerte (or "Saint Death); dissection and masturbation; dissection and magic; Victorian memorial hair jewelry; the "hot nurse" in popular fiction; The Danse Macabre; "a cinematic survey of The Vampires of London;" and anatomical waxworks and death.
There will be also two special backstage tours: one of the legendary Blythe House, home of the vast and incredible collection of Henry Wellcome and the other of the Natural History Museum's zoological collection, featuring the famously gorgeous Blaschka invertebrate glass model collection; a special magic lantern show featuring "the weirdest, most inappropriate and completely baffling examples of lantern imagery" conjured by collector and scholar Professor Heard, author of Phantasmagoria- The Secret Life of the Magic Lantern; a screening of rare short films from the BFI National Archive documenting folk music, dance, customs and sport; and workshops in the creation of Victorian hair work, lifelike wax wounds, and bat skeletons in glass domes.
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Wax Wound Workshop with medical artist Eleanor Crook
Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 1:00 - 5:00 PM
More here
Let acclaimed sculptor Eleanor Crook guide you in creating your very own wax wound. Crook has lent her experience to professionals ranging from forensic law enforcement officers to plastic surgeons, so is well placed to help you make a horrendously lifelike scar, boil or blister.
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Art, Wax, Death and Anatomy : Illustrated lecture with art historian Roberta Ballestriero
Monday, June 3, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
Wax modelling, or ceroplastics, is of ancient origin but was revived in 14th century Italy with the cult of Catholic votive objects, or ex votos. Art Historian Roberta Ballestriero will discuss the art and history of wax modeling sacred and profane; she will also showcase many of its greatest masterworks.
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Music Driving Women Mad: The History of Medical Fears of its Effects on Female Bodies and Minds: Illustrated lecture with Dr. James Kennaway
Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
Over the past few centuries, countless physicians and writers have asserted that music could cause very serious medical problems for the 'weaker sex'. Not only could it bring on symptoms of nervousness and hysteria, it could also cause infertility, nymphomania and even something called 'melosexualism'. This talk will give an outline of this strange debate, using the raciest stories to be found in gynaecological textb
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Solitary vice? Sex and Dissection in Georgian London With Dr Simon Chaplin
Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
In this lavishly illustrated lecture, Simon Chaplin explores the sexual undertones of the anatomy schools of Georgian London, in which students dissected grave-robbed bodies in the back-rooms of their teachers' houses, while their masters explored new strategies for presenting their work to polite audiences through museums and lectures.
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Heartthrobs of the Human Zoo: Ethnographic Exhibitions and Captive Celebrities of Turn of the Century America: An Illustrated Lecture with Betsy Bradley
Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
From ransomed Congolese pygmies to winsome Eskimo babies, the American world's fairs and patriotic expositions present history with a number of troubling ethnographic celebrities, and their stories offer a rare glimpse inside the psychology and culture of imperial America at the turn of a new century.
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The Astounding Collection of Henry Wellcome: Blythe House Backstage Tour with Selina Hurley, Assistant Curator of Medicine, The Science Museum
Friday, June 7, 2013 at 3:00pm
More here
Henry Wellcome (1853 - 1936)----early pharmaceutical magnate and man behind the Wellcome Trust, Collection, and Library--was the William Randolph Hearst of the medical collecting world. That collection, possibly the finest medical collection in the world, now resides in Blythe House, kept in trust by The Science Museum on permanent loan from the Wellcome Trust. Today, a lucky fifteen people will get a rare chance to see this collection, featuring many artifacts of which have never before been on public view, in this backstage tour led Selina Hurley, Assistant Curator of Medicine at The Science Museum.
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Neapolitan Cult of the Dead with Chiara Ambrosio
Monday, June 10, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
In tonight's illustrated lecture, Italian artist and filmmaker Chiara Ambrosio will elucidate this curious and fascinating "Neapolitan Cult of the Dead" and situate it within a the rich death culture and storied history of Naples.
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A Vile Vaudeville of Gothic Attractions: Illustrated lecture by Mervyn Heard, author of Phantasmagoria- The Secret Life of the Magic Lantern
Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
An illustrated talk in which writer and showman 'Professor' Mervyn Heard waxes scattergun- sentimental over some of the more bizarre, live theatrical experiences of the 18th, 19th and early 20th century - from the various ghastly manifestations of the phantasmagoria to performing hangmen, self-crucifiers and starving brides.
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Professor Heard's Most Extraordinary Magic Lantern Show with Mervyn Heard
Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
Professor Heard is well known to patrons of the Last Tuesday Lecture programme for his sell-out magic lantern entertainments. In this latest assault on the eye he summons up some of the weirdest, most inappropriate and completely baffling examples of lantern imagery, lantern stories and optical effects by special request of Morbid Anatomy.
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"Speaking Reliquaries" and Christian Death Rituals: Part One of "Hairy Secrets" Series With Karen Bachmann
Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
3-part series on human relics and Victorian mourning jewelry--master jeweler and art historian Karen Bachmann will focus on what are termed "speaking" reliquaries: the often elaborate containers which house the preserved body parts--or relics--of saints and martyrs with shapes which reflect that of the body-part contained within.
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Hair Art Workshop Class: The Victorian Art of Hair Jewellery With Karen Bachmann
Friday, June 14, 2013 at 1:00pm
More here
Hair jewellery was an enormously popular form of commemorative art that began in the late 17th century and reached its zenith during the Victorian Era. Hair, either of someone living or deceased, was encased in metal lockers or woven to enshrine the human relic of a loved one. This class will explore a modern take on the genre.
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The History of the Memento Mori and Death's Head Iconography: Part Two of "Hairy Secrets" Series Illustrated lecture with Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann
Friday, June 14, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
In tonight's lecture--the second in a 3-part series on human relics and Victorian mourning jewelry--master jeweler and art historian Karen Bachmann will explore the development of the memento mori,objects whose very raison d'être is to remind the beholder that they, too, will die.
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Hair Art Workshop Class: The Victorian Art of Hair Jewellery With Karen Bachmann
Saturday, June 15, 2013 at 1:00pm (More here)
Sunday, June 16, 2013 at 1:00pm (More here)
Hair jewellery was an enormously popular form of commemorative art that began in the late 17th century and reached its zenith during the Victorian Era. Hair, either of someone living or deceased, was encased in metal lockers or woven to enshrine the human relic of a loved one. This class will explore a modern take on the genre.
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The Victorian Love Affair with Death and the Art of Mourning Hair Jewelry: Illustrated lecture with Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann
Monday, June 17, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
The Victorians had a love affair with death which they expressed in a variety of ways, both intensely sentimental and macabre. Tonight's lecture-the last in a 3-part series on human relics and Victorian mourning jewelry-will take as its focus the apex of the phenomenon of hair jewelry fashion in the Victorian Era as an expression of this passion.
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Dissection and Magic with Constanza Isaza Martinez
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
This lecture examines images of human corpses in Early Modern European art in relation to two specific themes: the practice of 'witchcraft' or 'magic'; and the emergent medical profession, particularly anatomical dissection.
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Future Death. Future Dead Bodies. Future Cemeteries Illustrated lecture by Dr. John Troyer, Deputy Director of the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath
Thursday, June 20, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
Dr. John Troyer, from the Centre for Death & Society, University of Bath, will discuss three kinds of postmortem futures: Future Death, Future Dead Bodies, and Future Cemeteries. Central to these Futures is the human corpse and its use in new forms of body disposal technology, digital technology platforms, and definitions of death.
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‘She Healed Their Bodies With Her White Hot Passions’: The Role of the Nurse in Romantic Fiction with Natasha McEnroe Illustrated lecture Natasha McEnroe, Director of the Florence Nightingale Museum
Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 7:00pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/478987722156193/
Victorian portrayals of the nurse show either a drunken and dishonest old woman or an angelic and devoted being, which changes to a 20th-century caricature just as pervasive - that of the 'sexy nurse'. In this talk, Natasha McEnroe will explore the links between the enforced intimacy of the sickroom and the handling of bodies for more recreational reasons.
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Face lift or face reconstruction? Redesigning the Museum Vrolik, Amsterdam's anatomical museum An illustrated lecture with Dr. Laurens de Rooy, curator of the Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam____________________
Monday, June 24, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
Counting more than five thousand preparations and specimens, the Museum Vrolikianum, the private collection of father Gerard and his son Willem Vrolik was an amazing object of interest one hundred and fifty years ago. In the 1840s and 50s this museum, established in Gerard's stately mansion on the river Amstel, grew into a famous collection that attracted admiring scientists from both the Netherlands and abroad. In this talk, Museum Vrolik curator Dr Laurens de Rooy will take you on a guided tour of the new museum, and give an overview of all the other aspects of the 'new' Museum Vrolik.
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The Walking Dead in 1803: An Illustrated Lecture with Phil Loring, Curator of Psychology at the Science Museum in London
Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
A visiting Italian startled Londoners at the turn of the 19th century by making decapitated animals and executed men open their eyes and move around, as if on the verge of being restored to life. This was not magic but the power of electricity from the newly invented Galvanic trough, or battery. This talk will discuss a variety of historical instruments from the Science Museum's collections that figured in these re-animation experiments, including the apparatus used by Galvani himself in his laboratory in Bologna.
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The Influencing Machine: James Tilly Matthews and the Air Loom with Mike Jay
Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 7:00pm
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Confined in Bedlam in 1797 as an incurable lunatic, James Tilly Matthews' case is one of the most bizarre in the annals of psychiatry. He was the first person to insist that his mind was being controlled by a machine: the Air Loom, a terrifying secret weapon whose mesmeric rays and mysterious gases were brainwashing politicians and plunging Europe into revolution, terror and war. But Matthews' case was even stranger than his doctors realised: many of the incredible conspiracies in which he claimed to be involved were entirely real.
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A Waxen France: Madame Tussaud’s Representations of the French: Illustrated Lecture by Pamela Pilbeam Emeritus Professor of French History, Royal Holloway, University of London and author of Madame Tussaud and the History of Waxworks
Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 7:00pm
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Madame Tussaud's presentation of French politics and history did much to inform and influence the popular perception of France among the British. This lecture will explore that view and how it changed during the nineteenth century.
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Backstage Tour of the Zoological Collection of the Natural History Museum with Miranda Lowe
Friday, June 28, 2013 at 3:00pm
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Today, ten lucky people will get to join Miranda Lowe, Collections Manager of the Aquatic Invertebrates Division, for a special backstage tour of The Natural History Museum of London. The tour will showcase the zoological spirit collections in the Darwin Centre, some of Darwin's barnacles and the famed collection of glass marine invertebrate models crafted by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka in the 19th and early 20th century.
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Bat in Glass Dome Workshop: Part of DIY Wunderkammer Series With Wilder Duncan (formerly of Evolution Store, Soho) and Laetitia Barbier, head librarian at The Morbid Anatomy Library
Saturday, June 29, 2013 at 1:00pm (more here)
Sunday, June 30, 2013 at 1:00pm (more here)
In this class, students will learn how to create an osteological preparation of a bat in the fashion of 19th century zoological displays. A bat skeleton, a glass dome, branches, glue, tools, and all necessary materials will be provided for each student. The classes will focus on teaching ancient methods of specimen preparation that link science with art: students will create compositions involving natural elements and, according to their taste, will compose a traditional Victorian environment or a modern display.
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The Coming of Age of the Danse Macabre on the Verge of the Industrial Age with Alexander L. Bieri Illustrated lecture with Alexander L. Bieri
Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at 7:00pm
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The lecture not only discusses Schellenberg's danse macabre in detail, but also gives an insight into the current fascination with vanitas and its depictions, especially focusing on the artistic exploitation of the theme and takes into consideration the history of anatomical dissection and preparation.
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"Viva la Muerte: The Mushrooming Cult of Saint Death" Illustrated lecture and book signing with Andrew Chesnut
Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 7:00pm
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The worship of Santa Muerte, a psuedo Catholic saint which takes the form of a personified and clothed lady death, is on the rise and increasingly controversial in Mexico and the United States. Literally translating to "Holy Death" or "Saint Death," the worship of Santa Muerte-like Day of the Dead-is a popular form of religious expression rooted in a rich syncretism of the beliefs of the native Latin Americans and the colonizing Spanish Catholics.
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From Blue Beads to Hair Sandwiches: Edward Lovett and London's Folk Medicine: An Illustrated lecture with Ross MacFarlane, Research Engagement Officer in the Wellcome Library
Monday, July 15, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
During his life Edward Lovett (1852-1933) amassed one of the largest collections of objects pertaining to 'folk medicine' in the British Isles. Lovett particularly focused his attention on objects derived from contemporary, working class Londoners, believing that the amulets, charms and mascots he collected - and which were still being used in 20th century London - were 'survivals' of antiquated, rural practices.
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The Vampires of London: A Cinematic Survey with William Fowler (BFI) and Mark Pilkington (Strange Attractor)
Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 7:00pm
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This heavily illustrated presentation and film clip selection explores London's Highgate Cemetery as a locus of horror in the 1960s and 1970s cinema, from mondo and exploitation to classic Hammer horror.
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"Here's a Health to the Barley Mow: a Century of Folk Customs and Ancient Rural Games" Screenings of Short Films from the BFI Folk Film Archives with William Fowler
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 at 7:00pm
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Tonight, the British Film Institute's William Fowler will present a number of rare and beautiful short films from the BFI National Archive and Regional Film Archives showing some of our rich traditions of folk music, dance, customs and sport. Highlights include the alcoholic folk musical Here's a Health to the Barley Mow (1955), Doc Rowe's speedy sword dancing film and the Padstow Mayday celebration Oss Oss Wee Oss (Alan Lomax/Peter Kennedy 1953).
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Of Satyrs, Horses and Camels: Natural History in the Imaginative Mode: illustrated lecture by Daniel Margócsy, Hunter College, New York
Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here
From its beginnings, science was (and still is) an imaginative and speculative enterprise, just like the arts. This talk traces the exchange of visual information between the major artists of the Renaissance and the leading natural historians of the scientific revolution. It shows how painters' and printmakers' fictitious images of unicorns, camels and monkfish came to populate the botanical and zoological encyclopedias of early modern Europe.
You can find out more on all events here.
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