Thursday, July 31, 2014

Anatomical Venuses at Mildred's Lane: Lecture this Saturday, August 2


For any those in the vicinity of rural New York/Pennsylvania: I am beyond honored to be giving a talk this Saturday night as part of "Social Saturdays" at the fabulous Mildred's Lane, founded by amazing artists J Morgan Puett and Mark Dion. The lecture will be held at The Mildred Complex(ity) project space, in the DVAA building at 37 Main Street, Narrowsburg, NY.

Talk description follows, and tickets--which include "a delicious locally sourced meal prepared by a guest chef" as well as the lecture--can be purchased here.

Hope to see you there!
Morbid Anatomy with Joanna Ebenstein
August 2, 2014
Tour – 5:00 p.m.
Cocktails – 6:00pm
Presentation – 6:30pm
Dinner – 8:00 p.m.

Clemente Susini’s "Anatomical Venus" is a life sized, dissectible wax anatomical woman with real human hair still entombed in her original rosewood and Venetian glass case created in Florence, Italy around 1790. It—or, better she—was conceived of as a means to teach human anatomy without need for constant dissection of real human cadavers, which was messy, ethically fraught, and prone to quick decay. The Venus also tacitly communicated the relationship between the human body and a divinely created cosmos, between art and science, between nature and mankind as understood by Natural Philosophy, the science of its day.

How could a creature so perplexing and peculiar to the modern eye have seemed, at one point, the perfect way to demonstrate anatomical understandings of the body? How could our cultural attitudes have changed to such an extent that she, who once seemed the perfect way of expressing anatomical understanding, now seems bizarre to the contemporary eye? How might these differences help us to better understand the historical moment of her creation as well as our own time? How can we use our own response to these confounding creatures as a way to understand what we might have lost, how we might have changed? This highly illustrated talk will explore those questions.
 Photos of Anatomical Venuses by Joanna Ebenstein

Sunday, July 13, 2014

A Trip to Hell at Tiger Balm (Haw Par) Gardens, Hong Kong : Guest Post by Eric Huang

The delightful Eric Huang (aka dinoboy) recently paid a visit to a theme park which quite simply defies imagination: Tiger Balm (Haw Par) Gardens of Hong Kong. This attraction, built in 1937, is a sort of theme park filled with tableaux illustrating Buddhist and Chinese mythology. The highlight: a depiction of "The Ten Courts of Hell" and the punishments enacted there.

Eric kindly agreed to write a guest post for the readers of Morbid Anatomy about this amazing place, which follows; all photos above are also his own!
I heard about the Tiger Balm Gardens whilst visiting a friend in Hong Kong. The park near where she grew up was once one of three gardens built by the heirs to the Tiger Balm fortune, brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par. Only the Singapore garden, called Haw Par Villa after the brothers - exists today. The park in the Fujian province of China was never completed, and is now a museum. The Hong Kong gardens closed in 2004, though the mansion where Aw Boon Haw lived has been preserved.

What a garden Haw Par is! Roughly the size of Fantasyland at the Disney theme parks, the attraction built in 1937 is a maze of grottoes, monuments, and tableaux of Buddhist morality and Chinese mythology. Many will likely recognize Monkey from the Buddhist legend, Journey to the West, that spawned numerous TV series and films as well as the Damon Albarn musical/opera, but the familiar bits are the least interesting.

Human-beast hybrid monsters abound, mainly aquatic: yes there are mermaids, but also scallop shell ladies, crab women, manta ray men, fish dudes – and all are angry, in mid-battle wielding feudal and magical weapons, seducing silly humans, and cavorting with any thing – living or otherwise - nearby. Most are players in epic legends involving the gods and their loves, jealousies, and savage revenge on each other and on helpless (but hot) humans.

There’s also a giant wall depicting the sins of urban life: dancing to gambling to liquor and loose women. Scenes of good deeds and piety mirror the sinful acts. The park opposite the wall is an odd assemblage of anthropomorphic animals, a giant gorilla family, frogs riding ostriches, and a load of Australian animals: kangaroos, koalas, and emus.

The very, very best attraction at Haw Par Gardens is undoubtedly the Ten Courts of Hell. The entrance is a park-like path lined with decapitated heads. It’s clear you’re about to enter something nasty – very Temple of Doom. The tableau nearby depicts a brutal war between rats and squirrels!

The Courts themselves are set inside a dark and appropriately hot – tropical, humid, Singapore hot – cave guarded by Ox-Head and Horse-Face, escorts of Hell. Don’t let their names fool you into thinking they’re funny circus animals. Ox-Head and Horse-Face chase newly arrived souls into Hell with a steel spear and an ivory stick.

Once inside the cave, the exhibit leads visitors through the process of judgement, sorting, punishment, and finally redemption through reincarnation. Each Court in Hell punishes those guilty of particular crimes. Many crimes have the same punishment. For example, in the Third Court of Hell, the following crimes are judged and punished:

Ungratefulness, Disrespect to elders, Escaping from prison = Heart cut out.

Drug addiction and trafficking, Grave robbing, Seducing people into a life of crime, Creating social unrest = Tied to a red-hot copper pillar and grilled.

To the modern visitor and unbeliever, the crimes and punishments are unlikely to make any logical sense. Money lenders with exorbitant interest rates face being thrown onto a hill of knives – quite right! The misuse of books and wasting food are both punishable by having your body sawn in two – not at the waist, but down your body in a lateral cut.

But fear not, even the most heinous of crimes – disobeying your siblings, for example – are eventually forgiven. Once souls have been punished for the prescribed length of time, they are led through the Pavilion of Forgetfulness where a draught of magic tea administered by an elderly woman named Men Po causes all to forget their past life. Then it’s off to Samsara and the Wheel of Incarnation. Depending on the crimes committed in the past life and the punishment meted out, the soul will be reincarnated either as an invertebrate, a sea creature, a land animal (mammal), a flying creature, someone poor or foreign, or Han Chinese nobility – in that order.

The Courts are beautifully gruesome and very camp at the same time. It’s worth it to go to Singapore just to see the Courts of Hell themselves. Sadly the gift shop was closed when I visited. I can only imagine the souvenirs I might have purchased. Maybe this is the just one of the punishments I deserve for my crimes …

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Dental casts of the Extraordinary Aztec Children, 1853 : Guest Post by Kristin Hussey, Hunterian Museum, London

Kristin Hussey--Assistant Curator of the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons with responsibility for the Odontological Collection--has kindly agreed to write a series of guest posts for Morbid Anatomy about some of the most curious objects in her collection.

The eighth post from that series--entitled "Dental casts of the Extraordinary Aztec Children, 1853"--follows; you can view all posts in this series by clicking here.
"…he looked over an immense plain, extending to Yucatan and the Gulf of Mexico, and saw at a great distance a large city spread over a great space, and with turrets white and glittering in the sun…"
– John Lloyd Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan
In the mid-19th century, explorers like John Lloyd Stephens believed in the existence of a mythical Aztec city lost to time and somehow protected from European incursions. It is not surprising that when two inhabitants of this mystical city appeared on the shores of Britain it caused an instant sensation. In June 1853, Pedro Velasquez of San Salvador, Mexico arrived on the docks of Liverpool with two children he claimed to have taken from the high priesthood of the sacred city of Ixamaya. Known as the Aztec Children, Maximo and Bartola were exhibited across Europe and American for almost 40 years between the 1850s and 1890s. Their diminutive stature and distinctive head shape prompted the scientists of the age to wonder whether these children were indeed the last descendants of a lost ancient people.  For medical men such as Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892), the answer to whether the last of the Aztecs had been discovered lay in hidden in their teeth. 
In 1850 Velasquez published his book Memoir of an Eventful Expedition in Central America in which he described his discovery of the lost city of Iximaya and the Aztec Children. In his work, Velasquez included sketches of hieroglyphics in Central American temples showing the distinctive cranial shape of the ancient figures, which he claimed as proof that his Aztec Children were a direct link with a lost race. The ‘discovery’ caused much excitement in medical and phrenological circles. Maximo and Bartola began touring in the United States in 1850, eventually arriving in England in June 1853. So popular was the pair that in July of that year the Aztec Children were brought before the Ethnological Society of London where they were described and analysed by leading anatomical expert and Conservator of the Hunterian Museum, Professor Richard Owen. In order to determine whether the children were in fact Aztecs or something else altogether, Owen only had to look at their mouths. 
After a detailed examination, Owen approximated the age of Maximo and Bartola by analysing the development of their teeth. He determined that both were developing normally and that Maximo, the male, was approximately twelve years old and Bartola, a female was about seven. The teeth Owen saw were sound and not indicative of any disease nor any noticeable difference from a modern child. He did however note a lack of language development seemingly correlated to their cranial deformity. Owen concluded that the figures in the hieroglyphics and the Aztec children only superficially resembled one another. Maximo and Bartola were simply children with an abnormal cranial development. The casts in the Royal College of Surgeons were taken of the pair later that same year, in December 1853. The casts first appear in the Odontological Museum catalogue in 1904, although they were likely acquired earlier. 
We now know that the Aztec Children suffered from microcephaly, a neurodevelopmental disorder which results in restricted head circumference and reduced cognitive abilities. The striking deformity of the skull which accompanies the condition meant that people with this disorder were often exhibited as human curiosities. Despite Owen’s judgement, Maximo and Bartola successfully toured Europe and the United States for a further 40 years, eventually dropping the ‘children’ from their title. While the general public remained enthralled with the idea of their mystical origins, for those with an interest in teeth, the sacred city of Ixamaya may have lost some of its wonder.
Image top to bottom:
  1. Maximo and Bartola c.1867. Source: Wikipedia Commons
  2. Sketches of figures from Central American temples from Pedro Velasquez’s book. Source: Project Gutenberg
  3. Sourced http://www.sideshowworld.com
  4. Advertisement for the Aztecs, unknown date. Source: Wellcome Library, London
  5. Dental casts of Bartola (left) and Maximo (right). Courtesy of the Royal College of Surgeons of England

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

A Case of Missing Identity: Researching a Phrenological Bust: A Guest Report by Museum Studies Student Liza Young, St. John's University

Liza Young--a museum studies student at St. John's University--took interest in an enigmatic recent acquisition to The Morbid Anatomy Library: the 19th century plaster phrenological death mask bust seen above. Working with our Head Librarian Laetitia Barbier, she unearthed a fascinating history and possible provenance. Below are her findings thus far; stay tuned for more installments! You can also find out more about Liza and her work by clicking here.

This spring the Morbid Anatomy Museum welcomed a fantastic new addition to its collection of unusually beautiful things: a plaster bust created for the study of phrenology. The bust portrays a man whose age lies somewhere between young and ageless. The white of the plaster has tarnished over the years, yet a faint phrenological map is still visible, sketched across his crown and eyes. At the base of the bust, where a label identifying to whom he belonged or in which museum he was housed, only a single word remains immediately visible: tragique.

Such slight hints to the story behind this bust present the opportunity for an ideal research project for an archivist-in-training such as myself. Somehow, I have been chosen as the lucky one to assist in undertaking this mission for information, to discover where the bust originated, who created him, and who had posed as the model. But where does one begin when dealing with a head created for a dead science whose only identifying mark (the label) has worn away? I’m not sure, but I began with self-guided history lesson.

Part One: A Little History
Phrenology, originally known as “cranioscopy,” is a pseudoscience created by the German physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) in 1796. The discipline spread throughout Europe, finding particular popularity amongst the British, between 1810 to 1840. To briefly sum up the essence of a fascinating practice, each lump of the skull was believed to correspond to a particular moral or immoral temperament localized within a specific area of the brain, which would swell or dip in relation to the volume of the temperament’s presence. Phrenology was believed to allow the true nature of one’s character be read through the skull, which would enable mankind to identify both the gifted and, most importantly, the deviant members of society without any previous knowledge of the individual’s history. The early nineteenth century marked the rise of the Industrial Revolution, which brought with it the birth of city life and, consequently, the crime-infested city streets that would one day inspire the likes of Jack the Ripper. Phrenology was a science that many looked to as a tool that might curtail these escalating crimes by tagging the deviants before they deviated.

http://morbidanatomy.bigcartel.com/product/phrenology-head-and-baby-in-womb-edible-prints-by-avm-curiosities
Left image is an edible print available for sale in the Morbid Anatomy Museum gift shop. Click the image to view/purchase/eat!

Illustrated phrenological maps of skulls were used to study the lay of land, or the head, so to speak, along with three-dimensional busts like the one in question. Some busts were created without a model, while others were taken from plaster casts of human faces. The Morbid Anatomy’s bust depicts a face nearly perfect in form, though lacking the too-smooth features of a generic piece for study. The shape of the nose, definition around the mouth, and, most importantly, the shallow undulations of his skull mark the piece as a cast from a unique human head. Who might have supplied his head for such a study? While some men did sit for personalized casts, the majority of the busts were made from less voluntary gentlemen.

In order to hone the new science, phrenologists studied the skulls of exceptional characters on the opposing ends of the spectrum: the most brilliant of men and the most errant. However, the only abundant cache of skulls available was provided by the local executioner. Yes, following death by guillotine or some such unfortunate fate, scientists would make a cast of the head, now relieved of its body, and study the plaster copy for the lumps of the brain that would, they believed, mark the subject as the criminal he was now known to be. While it cannot be stated indisputably that the bust in question was cast from a criminal (the length of his neck suggests he was not guillotined, unlike these men), it is safe to say that he was indeed dead. This conclusion is evidenced by the opening of his eyes, which would have been unbearable for a living model. Understanding the ultimate end of the model is very likely as close to identifying him as I will able to come, so let’s put a pin in that and move forward to where this man lived out his life before it was cut short.

Remnants of text on the phrenological bust. 

Part Two: Heritage of the Headless
As mentioned, the only fully legible of the three words along the base of the bust spells the French word tragique. This suggests, of course, that the bust is of French, or possibly Swiss, origin. It is possible that the first word reads Sestinia, though it is difficult to say, particularly as the only information I could find in relation to the word is that it is an Italian surname and an obscure plant of no particular use or potency. However, a few other clues point strongly toward French heritage.

Upon further examination of the head, I noticed a phrenological zone behind the left ear had been labeled with amativité. It is the French translation of “amativeness,” meaning the inclination toward sexual arousal. If an individual presented an overdeveloped amative temperament, phrenologists believed his character would be plagued by obscene and licentious behavior.
 
Details of phrenological bust.

If underdeveloped, he might suffer from a cold, detached personality. A second, nearly entirely erased label appears above the left eye. Though it is completely illegible, it seems to mark the zone associated with “tune,” which relates to a love of music. It is tempting to read into the meaning behind these isolated labels. Do they allude to the crime for which the model was executed? Or are they coincidental remains? Having studied the character of music throughout art and history, I am well aware of the perceived intoxicating effects attributed to listening to music for pleasure, rather than for devotion to God, which, according many an old master (Bosch, Vermeer, etc.), will inevitably lead to licentious behavior. However, phrenology was considered a science, not a form of artistic expression, so I must put a rest to any further symbolic interpretation.

The facts state that tragique and amativité are French. If I were pressed to volunteer a possible answer as to what the label reads in full, I would suggest “Sestinia, La Discipline Tragique," though I would say it very hesitantly. The case for French heritage is further enforced through the bust’s acquisition history. Joanna Ebenstein, the mother of the Morbid Anatomy Museum, purchased the bust from the Upper West Side shop Maxilla and Mandible (sadly, now closed), who purchased it from “the Auzoux workshop” during the 1990’s in Normandy, France. So who then is Auzoux?

Part Three: The Creator
Louis Thomas Jerôme Auzoux (1797-1880) was a French physician frustrated by the body’s inability to be preserved long enough for thorough anatomical study. Cadavers decomposed too rapidly. Anatomical drawings and texts proved too dry. Wax models melted under prolonged touch. In response to these issues, Auzoux turned to the popular art of papier-mâché, typically used to created dolls for children, and built life-size anatomical models of the human body. The organs of these faux cadavers could be removed and handled, mimicking the process of dissection. However, while Auzoux was certainly interested in the functions and design of the cranium, he was devoted to the science of anatomy, not phrenology. He, as far my research can tell, never created casts like the one in question. What, then, was the bust doing at Auzoux’s workshop? After a brief interview with the gentleman who sold the bust to Joanna, I learned that the piece was likely not manufactured by Auzoux, but possibly used as a reference piece in the factory’s collection. Perhaps it was sold during a weeding of their collection.

Just upon reaching this dead end, I received word that Laetitia Barbier, the Head Librarian of the Morbid Anatomy Library, had a lead. It seemed the creator may have been another Frenchman known as Dumoutier. And so began another plunge into JSTOR.

Dumoutier’s “Cephalometre,” a machine the phrenologist created to study the exact contours of the skull via Dumont d’Urville’s Phrenologist: Dumoutier and the Aesthetics of Races

Pierre Marie Dumoutier (1797-1871) was a famed phrenologist and adventurer. He accompanied the naval officer and explorer J. S. C. Dumont d’Uvrille on his expedition to the South Seas in 1837. The mission of the expedition was to further the study of phrenology (as well as ethnography) through analyzing the skulls of natives living in Patagonia, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. Dumoutier was to be the “natural historian” of the voyage, which entailed casting the heads of many living me, as well as collecting the skulls of the dead. Upon one such attempt to acquire a particular skull from “a most ferocious tribe of Malays,” Dumoutier was refused. Instead, the native offered to quickly decapitate the head of an enemy and present that to the phrenologist. As generous as the offer was, Dumoutier declined. Upon his return to Toulon, in the south of France, Dumoutier had created more than fifty plaster busts, many painted to match the color of the individual’s skin tone, as well an equal number of skulls. While these artifacts of phrenological research were, at the time, property of the government, many are now in the care of the Flaubert Museum and the History of Medicine in Rouen.

 
Morbid Anatomy’s bust on the left, the Flaubert Museum’s on the right

Upon researching Dumoutier’s work, I found his style to be very similar to that of the one in the hands of the Morbid Anatomy Museum. The simplistic bases and the length of the neck are identical. Though not exact replicas, the materials, the labeling of only the left portion of the skull, the style of script, and the color of the plaster all appear very alike in comparison. The main differences between the two are the closed eye lids of the finished piece in Rouen, its paper label, and the script to the side of its base. It is possible that these details were performed during the finals phases of the cast’s completion – phases at which the Morbid Anatomy’s piece never quite arrived. While there remains many details to be scrutinized, questioned, and scrutinized again, it seems we are heading in the right direction – or at the very least a logical direction founded on evidence-based research. We now have a sketch of the history surrounding the bust, including who created it, the type of character the model may have been, as well as where both gentlemen likely lived.

This project will continue until more solid conclusions are unearthed. I have contacted the Flaubert Museum (using my pitiful French) regarding my and the Morbid Anatomy Museum’s research. I will report the diagnosis when the results are in. I also intend to explore the possibility of another French phrenologist’s involvement with the piece: François-Joseph-Victor Broussais (1772-1838), whose style is quite similar to that of Dumoutier. Until then, should there happen to be a phrenology scholar out there reading this, any suggestions are certainly welcome.

Sources
Combe, George. The Phrenological Journal and Magazine of Magazine of Moral Science, for the Year 1843, Vol. XVI. Edinburgh: Maclachlan, Stewart & Co., 1843.


Mclaren, Angus. “A Prehistory of the Social Sciences: Phrenology in France.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 23, no. 01 (1981): 3.

Pierpont, et al., Rev. John. Annals of Phrenology, Vol. 2. Boston: Marsh, Capen and Lyon, 1835.

Rochette, Marc. “Dumont d’Urville’s Phrenologist: Dumoutier and the Aesthetics of Races * Translated from French by Isabel Ollivier.” The Journal of Pacific History 38, no. 2 (2003): 251-268.

"The Death Mask of Napoleon." Musées en Haute-Normandie. (accessed June 29, 2014).

"The Phrenological Organs." Phrenology. (accessed June 29, 2014).

And of course Joanna Ebenstein and Laetitia Barbier

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Beauty and Anatomy; Necrophilia Laws in the USA; And From "Holy Gore" to Santa Muerte: Upcoming Events at The Morbid Anatomy Museum

The Morbid Anatomy Museum is now open every day (including tomorrow, the 4th of July!) from 12-6 (excepting Tuesdays), and we would like to announce a number of events which we hope will tempt you to come out and see the new space!

First off, we hope to see you at our (back by popular demand!) singles night, taking place this Monday July 7th, and excitingly supported by our sponsor Hendrick's Gin.

We also have three offerings from this month's "Artist and Anatomist in Residence" Emily Evans, fresh in from her home in London. Over the course of her stay, she will be speaking on "The Beauty of Anatomy in Contemporary Art" (Wednesday, July 9); leading a free (!!!) Kid’s Anatomy Workshop (Sunday, July 20); and hosting A Night of Art, Anatomy and Pop Culture with Street Anatomy’s Vanessa Ruiz of the blog Street Anatomy (Friday, July 25th).

We have also just added a number of illustrated lectures by one of our favorite bon vivants of the Powerpoint stage, Morbid Anatomy August Scholar in Residence John Troyer, Ph.D. of the Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath. Over the course of his tenure, he will elucidate us on "Future Dead Body Technology" (Wednesday, August 6); Memorial tattoos (Morbid Ink: The Permanence of Memorial Tattoos; Wednesday, August 13); the fascinating world of necrophilia laws in the USA (Abusing the Corpse: Understanding Necrophilia Laws in the USA; Wednesday, August 20); and "The Future of Death" (The Future is Death and Death is the Future: Technology, Politics, and the Dead Body; Wednesday, August 27). Stay tuned also for a film night and other offerings to be added shortly.

Other newly announced events include the heavily illustrated lecture "From 'Holy Gore' to Santa Muerte: Death and Catholicism in Mexico" by Kurt Hollander of Several Ways to Die in Mexico City (Tuesday, July 22); a narrated magic lantern show with original 1880s projectors, moving panoramas, and more (The Arctic Theatre Royal, A Magic Lantern Show by The Wonder Show; Friday, August 1) and two lectures by "Egyptologist in Residence" Ava Forte Vitali of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Ancestor Cults in the Ancient World (Thursday, August 28) and Fur-Ever Friends: Animal Mummies (Thursday, September 25).

Also coming up are such events as The Skeleton Crew: Forensic Science and the Identification of the Unnamed Dead: an Illustrated lecture and catered book party with MIT's Deborah Halber and retired NYPD detective sergeant John Paolucci (Tuesday, July 8); Demonically Possessed Cats, an illustrated lecture with Dr. Paul Koudounaris (Thursday, August 7); Industrial Ladies: An Illustrated Lecture by Evan Michelson of Science Channel's Oddities (Thursday, September 11); Halloween: The Curious Story of America's Most Horrible Holiday with Lesley Bannatyne, author of Halloween: An American Holiday, An American History (Sunday, October 26th); Monsters on the Brain: A Natural History of Horror, an illustrated lecture with Professor Stephen T. Asma, author of Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads and On Monsters (Thursday, October 30); AND the second iteration of our Mexican Day of the Dead field trip: Muerte en Mexico curated, organized and guided by Mexican writer and Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence Salvador Olguín (October 31-November 4; must register by July 15).

And, for those who prefer to learn arcane skills, we have a number of excellent workshops including Snake Skeleton Articulation with Evolution Store Skeleton Preparator Amanda Lee (THIS Saturday, July 5th); Butterfly Preservation Workshop with Taxidermist in Residence Divya Anantharaman (THIS Sunday, July 6); Frederik Ruysch Wet Specimen Workshop (Sunday, July 13th); The Skull Beneath the Skin: Drawing the Human Skull with NYU's Chris Muller with real human skulls loaned by Ryan Mathew Cohn of TV's Oddities (Saturday, July 19); a Dissection and Drawing Workshop with Real Anatomical Specimens with physical anthropologist Samuel Strong Dunlap, PhD (Saturday, July 26) and a Carbon Dust Drawing Workshop, Featuring Real Anatomical Specimens Drawing class with Board Certified Medical Illustrator Marie Dauenheimer, MA, CMI (Sunday, July 27); a class in the Victorian Art of Hair Jewelry with Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann (Saturday, August 2); Anthropomorphic Mouse (One or Two Headed!) Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman (Sunday, August 3);  and finally, Fancy Chicken Taxidermy Class with Taxidermist in Residence Divya Ananthamaran (Saturday, August 23).

More info follows on all events. For longer descriptions, visit our brand new website calendar (!!!) by clicking here. For a good introduction to The Museum and its inaugural exhibit, check out this piece in last week's New York Times. Hope to see you at the new museum soon!

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Snake Skeleton Articulation with Evolution Store Skeleton Preparator Amanda Lee
Date: THIS Saturday, July 5th
Time: 12pm to 6pm
Admission: $200 (Tickets here)


In this class, students will learn about the techniques and tricks of processing and articulating skeletons—including bone defleshing methods, chemical cleaning, and an overview of skeletal anatomy as it pertains to articulation—while posing and framing a specimen of their very own.

More here.

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Butterfly Preservation Workshop with Taxidermist in Residence Divya Anantharaman
Date: THIS Sunday, July 6th
Time: 12pm – 3pm
Price: $90 (includes all materials for use in class, students go home with their own prepared butterfly, a spreading board that can be used for future projects, display case for the finished piece, and the knowledge to create their own pieces in the future)
Tickets here


In this beginners class, students will learn everything about basic butterfly preparation. Students will also build their very own spreading boards for use in class and beyond and leave class with their own finished piece and the knowledge to make more in the future.

More here.

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Morbid Curiosity: A Morbid Anatomy Singles Night
Date: Monday, July 7th
Time: 8:00
Admission: $15 (Sponsored by Hendrick’s Gin! Tickets here)

A Singles night for the Morbid Anatomy community. Games, drinks, fun and possible mayhem!

More here.

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The Skeleton Crew: Forensic Science and the Identification of the Unnamed Dead
Illustrated lecture and book party with MIT’s Deborah Halber and retired NYPD detective sergeant John Paolucci
Date: Tuesday, July 8
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)
***Copies of Skeleton Crew will be available for sale and signing

Tonight join author author Deborah Halber and retired NYPD detective sergeant John Paolucci for an evening exploring what happens when human remains—victims of homicides, suicides and accidents–cannot be identified. The talk, book signing and wine-and-cheese reception mark the release of Deborah Halber’s narrative nonfiction book, "The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America’s Coldest Cases."

More here.

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The Beauty of Anatomy in Contemporary Art
An Illustrated Lecture with Morbid Anatomy Artist and Anatomist in Residence Emily Evans
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 8:00
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)

Anatomy has become a hot topic in contemporary art over the last decade. But just what is it that makes a great piece of anatomical art? And what makes anatomical art so fascinating to some and so disturbing to others? In tonight’s talk, Morbid Anatomy Artist and Anatomist in Residence Emily Evans will investigate these questions via a survey anatomical artworks ranging from the historically beautiful to the contemporary controversial, such as the plastinated bodies of Gunther Von Hagens and the provocative works of Damien Hirst.

More here.

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From Hippocrates to Freud: Highlights from Columbia University’s Health Sciences Library, a Guided Tour with Stephen E. Novak, head of archives and special collectionsDate: Saturday, July 12th
Time: 3pm to 4.30pm
Admission: $15 (Tickets here)

Special field trip to Columbia University’s Health Sciences Library for a guided tour of their historical medical books with Stephen E. Novak, head of archives and special collections.

More here.

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Frederik Ruysch Wet Specimen Workshop, with Mark Batelli, Wet Specimen Restorer at Obscura Antiques
Date: Sunday, July 13th
Time: 1:00 PM – 6 PM
Admission $100 (Limited to 8 students; Tickets here)

In this workshop, artist and wet specimen restorer Mark Batelli will teach students how to preserve and prepare specimens in an educational, allegorical and artful manner inspired by the work of Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch (1638 – 1731). 
More here.

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Understanding the Aspective Art of Ancient Egypt
Illustrated lecture with Ava Forte Vitali, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Date: Thursday, July 17
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)

This illustrated lecture with Egyptologist in Residence Ava Forte Vitali will explain the cultural reasoning behind this style of depiction, the link between Egyptian art and the written word, and will provicde you with the knowledge to interpret almost any piece of Egyptian art, and impress friends on museum visits for years to come! 
More here.

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The Skull Beneath the Skin: Drawing the Human Skull with NYU’s Chris Muller
Skull drawing with real human skulls loaned by Ryan Mathew Cohn of TV’s Oddities
Date: Saturday, July 19
Time: 1 – 4 PM
Admission: $30 (Tickets here)
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy offers a workshop on drawing the skull, both from observation and from the imagination."

More here.

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Free Kid’s Anatomy Workshop with Morbid Anatomy Artist and Anatomist in Residence Emily Evans
Date: Sunday, July 20
Time: 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Admission: FREE

Today, stop by The Morbid Anatomy Museum to enjoy an excellent cup of coffee and browse of the museum while Artist and Anatomist in Residence Emily Evans teaches your kids how to make their own anatomical artworks!

More here.

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From “Holy Gore” to Santa Muerte: Death and Catholicism in Mexico
Illustrated lecture with Kurt Hollander, author/photographer of Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City
Date: Tuesday, July 22
Time: 8 pm
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)

In tonight’s heavily illustrated lecture, Kurt Hollander–Mexico City-based author and photographer of Several Ways to Die in Mexico City–will discuss images of death in Mexico city, beginning with what he terms Mexico’s “holy gore”–the unusually macabre and violent religious statues–and ending with la Santa Muerte, Mexico’s newest cult saint worshiped by the criminal class and the disenfranchised and loathed by the Catholic church.

More here.

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Street Anatomy: A Night of Art, Anatomy and Pop Culture with Street Anatomy’s Vanessa Ruiz
An Illustrated Lecture with Vanessa Ruiz, creator of the blog Street Anatomy
Date: Friday, July 25th
Time: 8pm
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)

Tonight, join Morbid Anatomy Museum Artist and Anatomist in Residence Emily Evans and Street Anatomy founder Vanessa Ruiz for an illustrated discussion which will range from the current state of anatomical art and its expanding community to the ways in which fostering relationships with artists helps connect and strengthen this niche subject.

More here.

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Dissection and Drawing Workshop with Real Anatomical Specimens Samuel Strong Dunlap, PhD
Date: Saturday, July 26
Time: 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Admission: $60 (Tickets here)

In today’s workshop we will dissect and draw human hands (Homo sapiens) and the forelimb of Didelphis virginiana, the North American opossum. The opossum is considered to be a good model for a basl – i.e. early or original – mammal. Many comparative skeletal materials will be available for examination and illustration, and additional specimens may also be available.

More here.

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Carbon Dust Drawing Workshop Featuring Real Anatomical Specimens with Marie Dauenheimer
Date: Sunday, July 27
Time: 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Class size limited to 15
Admission: $75 (includes materials cost)
Tickets here

In today's workshop, learn the art of carbon dust illustration, a technique perfected by medical artist Max Brodel at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the late 19th century. This technique–which, until the digital age, was an essential component of medical illustration education–allows the artist to create luminous, textural, three-dimensional drawings by layering carbon dust on prepared paper.

More here.

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The Arctic Theatre Royal, A Magic Lantern Show by The Wonder Show
Narrated Magic Lantern Show with original projectors, moving panoramas, and more
Date: Friday, August 1
Time: 8 pm
Admission: $15 (Tickets here
The Arctic Theatre Royal is a narrated magic lantern show incorporating original 1880s magic lantern projectors, a hand-cranked moving panorama, recorded music, and other media. The piece was inspired by materials found in the Providence Athenaeum’s Travel and Exploration collection.

More here.

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The Victorian Art of Hair Jewelry
Workshop with Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann
Date: Saturday, August 2nd
Time: 1 – 5 PM
Admission: $100 (Tickets here)

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 lockers or woven to enshrine the human relic of a loved one. This class will explore a modern take on the genre.

More here.

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Anthropomorphic Mouse (One or Two Headed!) Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
Date: Sunday August 3rd
Time: 12pm – 5pm
Price: $110 one headed/$125 two headed (includes all materials for use in class, students go home with their own finished piece, and the knowledge to create their own pieces in the future)
Tickets here 
In this class, students will learn to create–from start to finish–anthropomorphic mice inspired by the charming and imaginative work of Victorian taxidermist Walter Potter.

More here.

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Future Dead Body Technology
Illustrated lecture by John Troyer, Ph.D., Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath and Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence
Date: Wednesday, August 6
Time: 8pm
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)

This illustrated talk with John Troyer, Ph.D., Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath and Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence will discuss the present and future technologies surrounding the human corpse.

More here.

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Demonically Possessed Cats: Illustrated Lecture with Dr. Paul Koudounaris
Date: Thursday, August 7
Time: 8:00
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)
**Copies of Empire of Death and Heavenly Bodies will be available for sale and signing 
Tonight's illustrated lecture by Dr. Paul Koudounaris--author of Empire of Death and Heavenly Bodies--will trace the history of demonically-possessed cats. Felines were once considered by theologians to be easy prey for demons, who could enter their bodies and wreck incredible havoc on mankind. And did you know . . . demonically-possessed cats are still believed to be with us today!

More here.

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Morbid Ink: The Permanence of Memorial Tattoos
Illustrated lecture by John Troyer, Ph.D., Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath and Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence

Date: Wednesday, August 13
Time: 8pm
Admission: $8 (Tickets here
This illustrated talk with John Troyer, Ph.D., Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath and Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence will discuss the fascinating world of "memorial tattoos," or tattoos in memory of the deceased.

More here.

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Abusing the Corpse: Understanding Necrophilia Laws in the USA
Illustrated lecture by John Troyer, Ph.D., Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath and Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence
Date: Wednesday, August 20
Time: 8pm
Admission: $8 (Tickets here
This illustrated talk with John Troyer, Ph.D., Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath and Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence will discuss the surprising world of laws around necrophilia.

More here.

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Fancy Chicken Taxidermy Class with Taxidermist in Residence Divya Ananthamaran
Date: Saturday August 23rd
Time: 12pm – 6pm
Price: $400 (includes all materials)
Tickets here 
In this workshop, students will be immersed in the world of the fancy chicken and classic bird taxidermy. They will leave class with a finished piece and knowledge to make their own pieces in the future.

More here.

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The Future is Death and Death is the Future: Technology, Politics, and the Dead Body
Illustrated lecture by John Troyer, Ph.D., Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath and Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence
Date: Wednesday, August 27
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)

This illustrated lecture with John Troyer, Ph.D., Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath and Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence will explore the present and the future technologies of the dead body.

More here.

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Ancestor Cults in the Ancient World
Illustrated lecture with Ava Forte Vitali, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Date: Thursday, August 28
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)

This illustrated lecture with Egyptologist in Residence Ava Forte Vitali will discuss the many different ways the dead interacted with the living in ancient Egypt and the way the living interacted with the dead, from household cults, to festivals, and even a fairly active postal system of letters to the afterworld.

More here.

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Industrial Ladies
Illustrated Lecture by Evan Michelson, Morbid Anatomy Library Scholar in Residence, TV's Oddities
Date: Thursday, September 11
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $8 (Tickets here)

Illustrated lecture about uncanny and fascinating early 19th wax department store mannequins by Evan Michelson, Morbid Anatomy Library Scholar in Residence, TV's Oddities.

More here.

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Fur-Ever Friends: Animal Mummies
Illustrated lecture with Ava Forte Vitali, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Date: Thursday, September 25
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $8 (Tickets here
This illustrated lecture with Egyptologist in Residence Ava Forte Vitali will discuss the variety of reasons the Egyptians had for mummifying animals, the ways in which they did it, and sometimes – the ways in which they scammed their unsuspecting clients!

More here.

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Halloween: The Curious Story of America’s Most Horrible Holiday
Illustrated Lecture by Lesley Bannatyne, author of Halloween: An American Holiday, An American History
Date: Sunday, October 26th
Time: 8:00 PM (Tickets here)
Admission: $8 
Tonight, join Halloween scholar Lesley Bannatyne as she traces our onetime children’s holiday-turned-blood-and-guts carnival from its tiny origins in northwestern Europe through its recent explosion in popularity in the States.

More here.

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Monsters on the Brain: A Natural History of Horror
Illustrated lecture with Professor Stephen T. Asma, author of Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads and On Monsters
Date: Thursday, October 30
Time: 8 pm
Admission: $8 (Tickets here
In this talk Professor Stephen Asma–author of On Monsters–will use horror as an interdisciplinary bridge between humanities and scientific methodologies —a kind of case study for triangulating philosophy, psychology and biology. Recent research into the neuroscience of fear and cognition will be applied to some of the perennial monsters of our imagination.

More here.

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Muerte en Mexico: A Special Field Trip to Mexico City and Oaxaca for for Day of the Dead to Visit Sites Important to the History of Death in Mexico
Dates: October 31 – November 4 2014 (**Must reserve by July 15)
 $675.00 USD (includes all hotels in double-rooms, luxury ground transportation, museum admissions, guided visits, and breakfasts; airfares not included); email info@borderlineprojects.com to reserve a space. Please send payments via PayPal to: info@borderlineprojects.com.

A 4-day trip to Mexico City and Oaxaca for Day of the Dead; curated, organized and guided by Mexican writer and scholar Salvador Olguín for Borderline Projects, and Morbid Anatomy. Includes day of the dead celebrations, markets, churches, luxury bus travel, hotels, tickets to museums and breakfasts.

More here.

Images top to bottom:
  1. Jesus Statue, Mexico; Kurt Hollander
  2. “The Anatomist (Der Anatom),” Gabriel von Max, 1869
  3. Lantern slide from The Arctic Theatre Royal, A Magic Lantern Show by The Wonder Show

Oaxaca: A Decapitated Native American Princess and Morbid Anatomy Day of the Dead Trip : A Guest Post by Scholar in Residence Salvador Olguín

Following is a guest post by Morbid Anatomy Library scholar in residence--and guide of the Morbid Anatomy annual Mexican Day of the Dead trip--Salvador Olguín. This year's trip will be take us to Mexico City and Oaxaca where we will visit Day of the Dead celebrations, epic churches, museums, markets, and much more. Oaxaca is famous for hosting some of the most lavish and unusual Day of the Dead altars, so this is sure to be a very special trip. We very much hope you'll consider joining us!

The 2014 Morbid Anatomy Day of the Dead trip runs from October 31 through November 4th, and the deadline for registering is July 15. You can find out more about it the trip--and secure yourself a spot!--by clicking here. You can see photos from last year's trip by clicking here.
Oaxaca: A Decapitated Native American Princess

Oaxaca de Juárez, located in Mexico’s southern State of Oaxaca, is, in fact, a very ancient city. Humans have been present in the area since at least 7,500 BC, and some of its most prominent megalithic structures date from ca. 500 BC. The city’s official coat of arms features the image of the head of a decapitated woman, and is based on a legend from the Colonial era. Donají was a Zapotec princess who, according to legend, fell in love with Nucano, a prince from the rival Mixtec people. Mixtecs and Zapotecs had been fighting over the territory that is now Oaxaca way before it was conquered by the Aztecs and, subsequently, the Spaniards, and fighting continued well into the first decades of the Viceroyalty of the New Spain –i.e. Colonial Mexico, created in 1519 after the fall of the Aztec Empire. During one of these numerous confrontations, Donají was taken captive, converted to Christianity by recently baptized Mixtecs, and was finally decapitated. Her legend is still reenacted today during the festival of La Guelaguetza in Oaxaca.

A place of legend, Oaxaca has also played a key role in Mexico’s modern history. It was the birthplace of Benito Juarez, a Zapotec lawyer and liberal politician who went on to become one of the first Native American presidents in the American continent. He also famously overthrew an Imperial government, dubbed the Second Mexican Empire, imposed by Mexico’s Conservative Party on the back of a full-scale French invasion of the country. Juarez succeeded in his task after seeking weapons and support from Mexican Americans living in California, nicknamed Californios, and after being backed by a US government that had just come out of the American Civil War, and which imposed an 1866 naval blockade preventing further French troops to arrive in Mexico.

Today, the traces of Oaxaca’s violent history can still be felt, as well as the heritage of the many indigenous peoples that have lived, and still live in the city. This heritage can be specially felt during the celebration of the Days of the Dead, which take a prominent role in the lives of its citizens during the month of November. If you want to experience Oaxaca personally, this year I will be organizing a Special Tour to celebrate Day of the Dead in Mexico, together with the Morbid Anatomy Museum. You can find more information about the tour here.
Image: Day of the Dead in Oaxaca by Boris Spider; found here.