Hope to see you all
tonight (!!!) at the Morbid Anatomy Birthday Party featuring a highly illustrated lecture on "Sicilian Sex Ghosts" by
Empire of Death's Paul Koudounaris, music and artisinal cocktails by
Friese Undine,
and thematic baked goods by Rachel Rideout!
If you can't make it tonight, perhaps you can join us for the Morbid Anatomy and
Ghoul-a-Go-Go Krumpus-themed holiday party? Or you might fancy participating in the holiday edition of our
popular anthropomorphic insect shadowbox class! Or checking out a slideshow of amazing art from the rare book collections at the AMNH? Or learning about dark New York? If not, perhaps you'd like to learn about medieval automata! Or see a 3D slideshow!
These and many other delights
await you as part of Morbid Anatomy Presents this month and beyond at
Observatory; full details follow. Hope to see you there!
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Sicilian Sex Ghosts AND Morbid Anatomy Birthday Party
An illustrated lecture and Slideshow by
Empire of Death author Dr. Paul Koudounaris with Music and Cocktails by
Friese Undine and thematic baked goods by Rachel Ridout
Date: Tuesday December 11
Time: 8:00
Admission: $12
Produced by
Morbid Anatomy
Do you like sex? Do you like Death? Do you like Sicilians? Do you like
Morbid Anatomy,
alcohol, birthday parties, thematic cakes and music? If you answered
yes to any of these questions, please join author/photographer of
Empire of Death
Dr. Paul Koudounaris, as he presents an in-depth lecture with full
slideshow on the Sex Ghosts of the Palermo Catacombs for an evening's
spectacular which will also serve as the birthday party for
Morbid Anatomy's Joanna Ebenstein.
Over
400 years ago, the monks of Palermo's Capuchin monastery began
mummifying their own brothers and prominent local citizens, and
displaying their bodies in subterranean galleries. The result was one of
the world's most haunted sites. But many of these ghosts were not
content to simply roam the passageways rattling chains--death had
apparently not quelled their sexual appetites, and with libidos in
overdrive they took to the streets of the city to fulfill their
lecherous needs. Dr. Koudounaris will explore this fascinating folklore
in a uniquely bizarre lecture, illustrated with his own photographs of
the mummies still preserved in Palermo.
Come for the lecture, and linger for the party, which will feature Music and Cocktails by
Friese Undine and morbid baked goods by the lovely Rachel Ridout.
Dr. Paul Koudounaris
holds a PhD in Art History (UCLA) and has taught classes at numerous
universities and published in magazines throughout the world. He is the
author of The Empire of Death, the first illustrated history of charnel
houses and religious sanctuaries decorated with human bone. Named one of
the ten best books of 2011 (London Evening Standard), it has garnered
international attention for its combination of unique historical
research and stunning photography.
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Mysteries in Depth: A 3-D Slideshow with 3-D Legend Gerald Marks
Date: Friday, December 14, 2012
Time: 8:00 PM (Doors open at 7:00, there'll be refreshments and much to see))
Admission: $10
Presented by
Morbid Anatomy
Exploring
Mysteries has been a prominent feature in the work of artist Gerald
Marks over the past four decades. Tonight, join this 3-D legend and
former
San Francisco Exploratorium artist
in residence for a 3-D ode to the Nature of Vision. Seven “Chapters” of
images will explore a wide range of topics... Lost Art around the
City, Aviation and Space, The JFK Assassination, People Lost in
Devices, Liberty, Mysteries of Scale, and much more.
There will be
a special segment featuring images of small specimens in 3-D, made
using a desktop scanner. On January 5, Marks will be holding a Saturday
workshop on this technique. More on that
here.
Gerald Marks
is an artist working along the border of art and science, specializing
in stereoscopic 3-D since 1973. He may be best known for the 3-D videos
he directed for The Rolling Stones during their Steel Wheels tour. He
has taught at The Cooper Union, The New School for Social Research, and
the School of Visual Arts, where he currently teaches Stereoscopic 3-D
within the MFA program in Computer Art. He was artist in residence at
San Francisco’s Exploratorium and a Visiting Scholar at the MIT Media
Lab, where he worked with computer-generated holography. His Professor
Pulfrich’s Universe installations are popular features in museums all
over the world, including the Exploratorium, The N. Y. Hall of Science,
and Sony ExploraScience in Beijing and Tokyo. He has done 3-D
consulting, lecturing and design for scientific purposes for The
American Museum of Natural History, the National Institutes of Health,
and Discover Magazine. He has created a large variety of 3-D artwork for
advertising, display, and pharmaceutical use, as well as broadcast
organizations Fox and MTV. He has designed award winning projections and
sets at the N.Y. Public Theater, SOHO Rep, Kaatsbaan International
Dance Center and the Nashville Ballet, where he created stereoscopically
projected sets. He created the 3-D mural in the 28th Street station of
the #6 train in New York City’s subway. He did 3-D imaging of dance
around the New York shoreline as part of an iLAB grant from the iLAND
Foundation for using the arts to raise environmental consciousness.
___________________________________________________
Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop: Special Holiday Edition, with Former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton
With Daisy Tainton, Former Senior Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural History
Dates: Sunday, December 16 (Special Holiday Edition!)
Time: 1 - 4 PM
Admission: $65
***Must RSVP to
morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com to be added to class list
This class is part of
The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
Today,
join former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton for a special
Holiday-themed edition of 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.
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?
___________________________________________________
Ghoul A Go-Go Holiday Krampus Party with “DEVILS” Show Premiere!
Date: Saturday, December 22
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $13
Presented by
Morbid Anatomy
* Premiere of Ghoul A Go-Go's "DEVILS" show with Vlad and Creighton appearing LIVE!!
* A screening of the bizarro Mexican holiday classic feature film
Santa Claus (1959)! The devil Pitch is on the loose! Can Christmas be saved?
* "Beelzebab "Siren of Sodom" performs live burlesque!
* Mistress Dominae Drakonis beats the naughty!
* Mulled Wine! Krampus cake! Piñata! More fun than you can beat with a stick!
Ghoul A Go-Go and
Morbid Anatomy are throwing a Krampus holiday party to celebrate the world premiere of
Ghoul A Go-Go's
new "DEVILS" show! The ghost of Sammy Davis Jr. will not be there, but
Vlad and Creighton will pour on more entertainment than a naughty child
can handle. Beelzebabe, Siren of Sodom, will perform her scorching "Bad
Girls Go To Hell" burlesque--an act one archbishop cited as the cause of
his fall from grace! To add to the Krampus festivities, Mistress
Dominae Drakonis, in all her satanic majesty, will deal out beatings to
the naughty. There will be mulled wine to spice things up even further,
as well as a Krampus cake. For your visual entertainment, there will be a
screening of the 1959 Mexican classic film, Santa Claus, featuring the
the devil Pitch. A piñata will be beaten. You will also have the
privilege of being the first to see the brand new Ghoul A Go-Go episode
on the big screen in all its devilish glory! To grind things to halt,
there will be an Observatory styled lecture on Christmas. And then back
to the party! It'll be more fun than a sack full of children so wear
your best Krampus costume!
___________________________________________________
CLASS: Creating Stereoscopic 3-D Images of Small Specimens Using a Desktop Scanner
Workshop Class with Stereoscopic 3-D Artist Gerald Marks
Date: Saturday, January 5, 2013
Time: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM with a short lunch break
Fee: $60
Presented by
Morbid Anatomy
*** Class size is limited to 16; please RSVP to
morbidanatomy[at]gmail.com
In
this workshop class you will learn to produce high-quality stereoscopic
images of small objects, using a conventional desktop scanner. Everyone
in the class can expect to leave with at least one 3-D picture, ready
to post on a the web, email, or include in digital slide show, and the
knowledge of how to do the process. With this technique, quite a bit of
magnification is possible, almost rivaling microscope work.
After
scanning, we will work with the images in Adobe Photoshop, using the
same basic approach that the instructor has developed for Stereoscopic
3-D images in general, so you will be learning a professional technique
for working with 3-D image pairs.
We will primarily view and work
with our 3-D images using traditional Anaglyph Red/Blue 3-D glasses but
we can output our scan work to any 3-D viewing system, including all
types of 3-D projection and 3-D Television. 3-D glasses will be
provided.
We will be scanning the objects on a conventional
desktop scanners, such as the Epson Perfection series, and working with
the scans on a laptop, using Adobe Photoshop (any version). All of the
computer work on the instructor's laptop will be projected large, and in
3-D, so that it will be easy to follow.
Bring to Class
The primary thing to bring to class is the object you wish to scan.
Almost anything in your collection from about .25" to about 6" wide
should work, as long as it holds together. (Slime, for example, doesn't
hold together) Natural or man-made objects, such as coins or medals work
great. Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral are all OK, as long as it will
hold still for at least two exposures. Bring additional objects as some
things scan better than others and there may be time to scan more.
Bring a flash drive, or a blank CD, to put your scans on and take home.
You
may bring your own laptop, with Photoshop installed, but it is not
required. Bring your own scanner, too, if you like (When transporting a
scanner, remember to "lock" the scanner head!)
Gerald Marks
is an artist working along the border of art and science, specializing
in stereoscopic 3-D since 1973. He may be best known for the 3-D videos
he directed for The Rolling Stones during their Steel Wheels tour. He
has taught at The Cooper Union, The New School for Social Research, and
the School of Visual Arts, where he currently teaches Stereoscopic 3-D
within the MFA program in Computer Art. He was artist in residence at
San Francisco's Exploratorium and a Visiting Scholar at the MIT Media
Lab, where he worked with computer-generated holography. His Professor
Pulfrich's Universe installations are popular features in museums all
over the world, including the Exploratorium, The N. Y. Hall of Science,
and Sony ExploraScience in Beijing and Tokyo. He has done 3-D
consulting, lecturing and design for scientific purposes for The
American Museum of Natural History, the National Institutes of Health,
and Discover Magazine. He has created a large variety of 3-D artwork for
advertising, display, and pharmaceutical use, as well as broadcast
organizations Fox and MTV. He has designed award winning projections and
sets at the N.Y. Public Theater, SOHO Rep, Kaatsbaan International
Dance Center and the Nashville Ballet, where he created stereoscopically
projected sets. He created the 3-D mural in the 28th Street station of
the #6 train in New York City’s subway. He did 3-D imaging of dance
around the New York shoreline as part of an iLAB grant from the iLAND
Foundation for using the arts to raise environmental consciousness.
___________________________________________________
Natural Histories: Extraordinary
Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library
Illustrated lecture and Book Release Party with Tom Baione of New York's American Museum of Natural History
Date: Thursday, Jan 10
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by
Morbid Anatomy
*** Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing
Most
people are well acquainted with the front-stage wonders of New York's
American Museum of Natural History--the world class habitat group
dioramas, the highly stylized hall of biodiversity, the epic dinosaur
skeletons; what is
less well known is the equally astounding
back-stage collection, which includes an world-renowned collection of
exquisite, rare, and beautifully illustrated books on the natural
sciences held by museum's research library. The new book
Natural Histories: Extraordinary
Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library
,
edited by AMNH's Tom Baione, brings these hidden works to the fore,
showcasing forty extraordinary works created between the 16th and 20th
centuries, covering all seven continents, and spanning such diverse
scientific fields as anthropology, astronomy, earth science,
paleontology, and zoology. The book also features essays about each work
by Museum curators, scientists, and librarians, as well as forty
extraordinary, suitable-for-framing art prints of images from the book.
In
tonight's highly illustrated lecture, join American Museum of Natural
History's Boeschenstein Director of
Library Services and volume editor
Tom Baione for a look inside the
Natural Histories... and a
virtual trip behind the scenes of the Library's Rare Book Room.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to purchase--and have
signed!--their own copy of this gorgeous new volume.
Tom Baione,
a Brooklyn native, started working in the Museum's Library in 1995
after attending Pratt Institute's School of Library and Information
Science. After years in the Library's Special Collections and Reference
Services units, Tom became the Library's Director in 2010. He is an
active
member of New York's Grolier Club and lives in midtown with his
high
school sweetheart. The Museum was his favorite childhood
destination and he still reports a thrill upon entering the museum each
day.
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A
Dark Day in New York: Dispatches from The New York Grimpendium: Lecture
and Launch Party for Book of Death-related Sites and Artifacts in New
York
An Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing with
J.W. Ocker
Date: Monday, January 14
Time: 8:00
Admission: $5
Produced by
Morbid Anatomy
*** Copies of
The New York Grimpendium will be available for sale and signing
J.W.
Ocker spent a year traveling around New York, visiting some 250
death-related sites and artifacts in the state. A brain collection. A
ship graveyard. An abandoned spiritualist mecca. And yes, even
The Morbid Anatomy Library.
For this presentation, he will be showing pictures and recounting some
of the stories from from the darkest corners of the state.
J.W. Ocker grew up in Maryland and currently lives in New Hampshire. He is the author of
The New England Grimpendium, for which he won the Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing, and the recently released
The New York Grimpendium. He writes about his travels to strange sites around the country at his site
OddThingsIveSeen.com.
___________________________________________________
Medieval Robots: Automata Since the First Millennium
An illustrated lecture with
Elly R. Truitt, Bryn Mawr College
Date: Friday, January 18
(PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE)
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $10
Presented by
Morbid Anatomy
Robots
are everywhere. They build our cars, fight our wars, and clean our
homes. Robots help us define concepts of humanity, explore the ethical
ramifications of knowledge, and question the role of complex technology
in our lives. Yet these liminal objects have a long history. Medieval
robots, also called automata, appear throughout the Middle Ages in
literature, art, courtly ceremony, and liturgical ritual. They could
reveal the time of day or the date of your death, and they might be made
by artisans or sorcerers. This illustrated lecture will explore these
seductive, strange, and sometimes terrifying objects, and will uncover
the hidden medieval past of our robotic present.
Elly R. Truitt is
Assistant Professor of Medieval History at Bryn Mawr College. She has
published articles in a number of scholarly journals, and is currently
finishing a book on medieval automata. She also has a blog, called
Medieval Robots. She lives in Philadelphia, PA and is left-handed.
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You can find out more about all of these events
here, or sign up for them on Facebook by clicking
here.
Image: A bonneted figure at the Crypt of the Santa Maria Della Pace monastery, Palermo, Sicily by tonight's speaker Paul Koudounaris.
Beer courtesy of our sponsor 
