Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams: A History of Automatons on the BBC

Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams
DURATION: 1 HOUR
Documentary presented by Professor Simon Schaffer which charts the amazing and untold story of automata - extraordinary clockwork machines designed hundreds of years ago to mimic and recreate life.

The film brings the past to life in vivid detail as we see how and why these masterpieces were built. Travelling around Europe, Simon uncovers the history of these machines and shows us some of the most spectacular examples, from an entire working automaton city to a small boy who can be programmed to write and even a device that can play chess. All the machines Simon visits show a level of technical sophistication and ambition that still amazes today.

As well as the automata, Simon explains in great detail the world in which they were made - the hardship of the workers who built them, their role in global trade and the industrial revolution and the eccentric designers who dreamt them up. Finally, Simon reveals that to us that these long-forgotten marriages of art and engineering are actually the ancestors of many of our most loved modern technologies, from recorded music to the cinema and much of the digital world.

Thanks to Ross MacFarlane for bringing this to my attention. You can find out more here and watch the program above or by clicking here.

The Ossuary at St. Leonard's Church, Hythe, Kent, England

As a kind of last hurrah before returning to The States on Sunday, my friend Eric and I made a pilgrimage to one of the last two remaining ossuaries--or charnel houses--in England, found in the crypt of St. Leonard's Church in, Hythe, Kent. 

The informational pamphlet provided by the church makes the claim that this is one of the "largest and best preserved collection of ancient human bones and skulls in Britain." This might well be true, but it is also, I fear, damning by faint praise; post-reformation English churches rarely have an intact statue of a saint or a touch of color, much less the kind of excess witnessed in the art form of the ossuary. 

No one is sure exactly when this charnel house originated, but the earliest references, "both of which describe 'an orderly pile of dead men's bones' in the 'charnel house' on the north side of the church," date from the 1670s. But where did the bones come from? Again, from the pamphlet:

There have been many theories over the years as to who the people were and how they came to be resting in the crypt. [One]1787 drawing... stated that the bones were supposed to be those of 'Danish pirates slain in a battle' whilst a handwritten footnote on an 1860s illustration referred to them as 'men who fell in the battle of Hastings (1066).' Another argument said they were Anglo-Saxons killed in battle However, these theories are not supported by other evidence... it has also been stated that the people were victims of the Black Death... the general consensus now is that they were Hythe residents who died over a long period of years, who had been buried in the churchyard... and were dug up in the 13th century when the church was extended..

You can find out more about the ossuary at St. Leonard's Church, Hythe by clicking here. Although it does not really compare with its counterparts in Italy or the Czech Republic, its well worth a visit if you're nearby.

All photos © Joanna Ebenstein; click on image to larger images; To see additional images, click here.

A la Ronde, Eccentric Ladies Home, Devon, 18th Century

Quirky 18th-century house with fascinating interior decoration and collections
This unique sixteen-sided house was described by Lucinda Lambton as having 'a magical strangeness that one might dream of only as a child'.
-- National Trust website

On a recent road trip through Devon and Cornwall, we decided to stop, on the suggestion of Evan Michelson, at the charming and eccentric National Trust property A la Ronde. This lovely and fantastical 18th-century sixteen-sided, twenty roomed house was the life's work of "the Misses Parimenter:" the adventurous and artistically inclined Jane Parminter and her her younger orphaned cousin (and ward) Mary. 

Upon returning from an all-ladies Grand Tour in the 1780s embarked upon with Jane's invalid sister (!) and a friend from London, the cousins commissioned this eccentric house--allegedly based on the Basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna, which they had seen on their travels--and began a life's work of crafting it into into the perfect home, an inhabitable objet d'art, via the painstaking and artistic application of feathers, shells, cut paper, stones, objects, artworks, artifacts, paint, curiosities and artfully arranged mementos. In the end, they created the ultimate setting to showcase the mementos and impressions collected on their Grand Tour.

The home is best known today for what is probably the cousin's great masterwork, an epic shell gallery or grotto said to contain nearly 25,000 shells. Sadly too fragile for visitors to traverse, it is, thankfully, fully explorable via video screens in the home (bottom image). Is is also, as the guidebook explains "regarded as the most accomplished of its kind to have survived in Britain, particularly on this scale [and utilizes] shells, feathers and cut paper... supplemented by lichen, glass, mica, pottery, stones, bones and paint..." ADDENDUM: You can click here to virtually explore the shell gallery on your own; well worth the click! (Thanks so much, Lisa Wood!)

Other highlights of the home include the library, containing the Misses Parimenter's intact "cabinet of curiosity" (top image) stuffed full of aesthetically arranged shells, watercolor paintings (2nd image down), and assorted mementos (3rd image down); The drawing room with its special friesework crafted by the cousins from the feathers from native game birds and chickens artfully arranged and stuck down with isinglass (swirly looking tiles on image 6th and 7th image)," ingeniously designed chimney-boards... comprising a watercolor of St. Michaels's Mount surrounded by its own seaside collection of shells" (7th image down) and cousin-crafted specimen tables inset with stones, cameos, and shells (second from bottom). Also lovely was the central octagonal room topped by tantalizing glimpses of the shell grotto, with its unusual wall design thought to be meant to evoke "a seaweed covered undersea cave lit by the shell grotto above"and hung with gilt-framed family portraits (8th image down).

If you find yourself in the area, I highly recommend a visit; the place is truly an inspiration. suggesting the possibilities of beautiful living and a life dedicated to inhabitable aesthetics. It is also headily evokes the 18th century romance of the cabinet and the Grand Tour in an especially poignant and visceral way.

You can find out more about A la Ronde by clicking here; All photos are my own; click here to see more.

The Wonderful Museum of Witchcraft, Boscastle, Cornwall

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of visiting the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall. This fascinating and utterly charming museum was established by occult researcher, collector and practitioner Cecil Hugh Williamson (1909 - 1999); it is said to house the largest collection of witchcraft- and Wicca-related artifacts in the world.

Founder Cecil Williamson was a rather interesting character, somewhat in the school of idiosyncratic folklore collector Edward Lovett (1852-1933). He became interested in witchcraft as a small boy, when, as the story goes, he became friends with a local witch after coming to her aid against a group of thugs attacking her. Soon after, at boarding school, he met a "wise woman" who taught him some "simple yet effective" magic against the school bully, who then went on to break his leg in a skiing accident. Later, as a young man he traveled to Rhodesia to work on a tobacco plantation, where he met and studied the African Witchdoctors who he found to be using startlingly similar techniques to English "wayside witches" he knew so well from childhood.

In 1930, he returned to the UK and continued his studies--and presumably, collecting--of the occult, developing relationships with such experts as E. A. Wallis Budge of the British Museum, Egyptologist and anthropologist Margaret Murray, and historian Montague Summers. Soon after, he was recruited by the British Secret Intelligence Service (M I 6) to do undercover research on the occult interests of the leaders of the Nazi party, which led to the formation of his "Witchcraft Research Center." He went on to develop friendships with legendary occultist Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner, the founder of modern Wicca, who became "Witch in Residence" of the Museum of Witchcraft for some time until the two went their separate ways over differing visions for the museum's future (Sources 1, 2, 3, 4).

The Museum of Witchcraft was founded in 1951, the same year in which laws against the practice of witchcraft were finally repealed in Britain. It is a charmingly homespun and, at the same time, obsessively encyclopedic, intensely human and incredibly well researched museum. Located atop a ridiculously picturesque and windswept Cornish harbor, within you will find a mind boggling collection of artifacts, images, artworks and texts organized along such themes as "Depictions of Witches" (old hags, devil worshipers, mysterious beauties in paintings, advertisements and figurines); "Persecution" (a 17th century copy of King James I's Daemonologie, historical texts, torture instruments); "Divination" (black mirrors, tarot cards, crystal balls); "Amulets, Protection Magic and Charms" (bees in a bag, moles feet, protections from the evil eye); "The Devil and the Horned God" (the development of the Christian Devil from hooved and horned pagan gods); "Healing Magic" (herbs, potions, healing figures and wax poppets); "The Magic of Christianity" (exploring the irony that most of the people persecuted during the witch hunts were Christians utilizing sacred objects of Christianity in their spell such as holy wafers with special writings, votive offerings, and statues of the saints); and, the most fascinating--and somewhat chilling and surprising--"Curses or Natural Justice," with its many dolls, wax poppets and photos stuck through with pins; birds skulls in a nest; wax poppets in coffins; and a wax-entombed sparrow in a "sexy red shoe."

Museum captions throughout were fascinating, informative and accessible, and the whole was kind of a strange combination of homey and subversive. In short, this is one of my all time favorite museums, a truly idiosyncratic flowering of installation, scholarship, humanity and personal obsession. Truly an inspiration to aspiring museologists (like myself).

All photos above are my own; you can see a full set by clicking here and larger versions by clicking on them. You can find out more about the museum by clicking here. You can download a copy of the museum guide--which has much more information about the history adn exhibits--by clicking here.

Thanks so much to Mark Pilkington, Mike Jay and Chiara Ambrosio for so rightfully urging me to make the pilgrimage to this wonderful place.

The Pitt Rivers of Oxford: The Best Museum in The World?

I just had the delight to revisit the astounding, fabulous, unrivaled Pitt Rivers Museum with Eleanor Crook a few days ago. What can one say? This might very well be the best museum in the world, at least in terms of installation. It also presents an alluring vision of what The Wellcome Collection--with its equally broad and astounding collection of once one million (!!!) and now a still very respectable 100,000 objects--might have been in an alternative universe.

All images are my own; click to see larger images and you can see more by clicking here. Bottom two images are not of the Pitt Rivers by the now-closed Oxford Museum of Natural History that one must walk through to reach the Pitt Rivers. You can find out more about the Pitt Rivers Museum by clicking here.

Art and Anatomy Intensive Summer School Course with Sarah Simblet, Brian Catling and Eleanor Crook: Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford, 2013

My good friend--and one of my favorite artists--Eleanor Crook just brought to my attention a fantastic looking art and anatomy intensive course taking place this summer at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford. At £950.00 its a bit on the cost-y side, but what a great looking week of classes! By the end of the 7th day, you will have learned the skeleton and musculature and you will leave the course with your own hand-crafted wax model of the head and neck and ecorché (muscle figure) and, as the copy puts it, "a portfolio of new work, a much wider understanding of the subject explored and a wealth of ideas for future artistic development." Plus you get to learn from such wonderful artists as Sarah Simblet, Brian Catling and Eleanor Crook.

There are two sessions to choose form; the first is Sunday 4th August - Saturday 10th August
and the second is from Sunday 1st September - Saturday 7th September. Full details follow; You can find out more here and book a place by clicking here.

Art and Anatomy Course
Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford
With instructors Dr Sarah Simblet, Brian Catling and Eleanor Crook
Session 1: Sunday 4th August - Saturday 10th August 2013
Session 2: Sunday 1st September - Saturday 7th September 2013
(Please note, both courses offer the same programme)
The fee for each course is £950.00; Places can be booked here.

I found this course a unique opportunity as it is taught by artists that have learned directly from dissecting bodies. Also, the tutors present the subject with an exciting approach as this is what they are passionate about.’
--Jaime, Summer School Participant 2011

‘Such intensity of learning the musculature was really interesting, now fully appreciate how intricately the tissues intertwined.  I’m fascinated!’  -- Summer School Participant 2012

Dr Sarah Simblet continues to offer her highly successful Art and Anatomy course in 2013. Based around Dr Simblet’s best selling book, Anatomy for the Artist, Dorling Kindersley,this year we have extended the course to 7 days. The course continues to cover aspects of human anatomy, its drawing and history.For the third year, the Ruskin will be offering two non-residential courses on Art and Anatomy. Human anatomy is explored through intensive workshops, lectures and group discussions, with time for personal studio work. Participants need to bring their own drawing materials and the Ruskin will provide easels, paper and life models. No academic or artistic criteria is required for attendance at either course although all participants must be 16 years old and over.

Participants can expect to leave our Summer School with a portfolio of new work, a much wider understanding of the subject explored and a wealth of ideas for future artistic development.

To book a place on either of these courses, please go to the University’s online booking page for Short Courses: http://www.oxforduniversitystores.co.uk

Programme
Day 1         :    Structural Drawing
Day 2         :    The Skeleton
Day 3         :    Musculature
Days 4       :    Wax Modelling Head & Neck
Day 5         :    Wax Modelling Ecorché (muscle figure)
Day 6         :    Personal studio time with tutor
Day 7         :    Life Drawing

COURSE TEACHING STAFF

Dr Sarah Simblet
Sarah Simblet is an artist who writes and draws. She is also a broadcaster, lecturer and anatomist with broad research interests in the relationship between art, science and history. She has published three major art reference books with Dorling Kindersley: ‘Anatomy for the Artist’, ‘The Drawing Book’ and ‘Botany for the Artist’ and exhibits her drawings through her books. Sarah contributes to contemporary art shows, festivals and live events and her work is held in national and private collections. She contributes regularly to British, American and international television and radio programmes about science and art, and consults on national exhibitions. She is Tutor in Anatomy at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford, a freelance lecturer at the National Gallery London, and Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and is an academic member of Wolfson College, Oxford.
http://unitedagents.co.uk/sarah-simblet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/sep/25/arts.artsnews
http://www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780751334418,00.html

Professor Brian Catling
An academic, poet and contemporary artist who has had a life long fascination with the visualisation of human anatomy in everything from wood blocks to science fiction.  Brian is a Professor at the University of Oxford, on the teaching staff at the Ruskin and a Fellow at Linacre College.
http://briancatling.com/

Eleanor Crook
Eleanor Crook is one of the world’s leading anatomical modellers in wax: a contemporary artist who uses traditional and newly invented techniques to express and explain the drama of the human body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVL7nE4UiIs

Image: Side of Head Without Skin, from Anatomia Humani Corporis or Ontleding des Menschelyken Lichaams, Govard Bidloo, 1690

Libations for the Dead: "Lekythoi" at The Ashmoleoan Museum, Oxford

Libations for the Dead

The lekythos played an important part in Athenian funeral rites. Most lekyythoi (the plural in Greek) served as offerings to the dead. They were placed in graves, or on the steps of the grave stelae, and used to anoint funerary monuments... images were often applied on a white background, perhaps designed to evoke ivory, a material associated with funerals in ancient times...

Above, for your delectation: a few of lovely lekyythoi from The Ashmoleoan Museum's epic display, as seen yesterday with the lovely Eleanor Crook; Text also drawn also from display. All photos are my own; click on image to see larger version.