Happy Halloween Everybody!

Happy very, very strange Halloween, everyone.

Image: "From the Collection of Clive Parkinson, Director, Arts for Health, Manchester, England" from the photo series "Private Cabinets." More here.

"Morbid Anatomy Anthology" is Kickstarter Staff Pick!

Maybe all this promising of offerings to the saints to protect Morbid Anatomy Library from Hurricane Sandy has paid off, though in entirely unpredictable ways? I just found out that our campaign to raise funds for The Morbid Anatomy Anthology Volume 1--a lavish, illustrated book which will immortalize in print some of the best of the Morbid Anatomy Presents-- got chosen as a staff pick on Kickstarter!

If you have not already given it a look, you can check it out here; you can also learn more about the project by watching the video above, made by the über-talented Ronni Thomas, creator of The Midnight Archive.

More on the book below:

The Morbid Anatomy Anthology will cover such topics as anthropodermic bibliopegy (ie. books bound in human skin), 19th Century "Diableries", Henry Wellcome's collections of preserved human tattoos, 19th century death-themed Parisian cabarets, extreme taxidermy, popular wax anatomical models, "collecting death," the uncanny allure of the Anatomical Venus, Santa Muerte and Death in Mexico, L'Inconnue de la Seine, "artist of death" Frederik Ruysch, macabre collections, "human zoos," and much, much, MUCH more.
The rogue scholars, artists, writers, museologists, morticians and scientists whose works will fill this volume will include (in no particular order):

• Evan Michelson, star of TV's "Oddities" and Morbid Anatomy Library Scholar in Residence
• Mark Dery, cultural critic and author of the upcoming The Doubtful Guest: The Mysterious Mind and Legendary Life of Edward Gorey
• Paul Koudounaris, author/photographer of Empire of Death
• Stephen Asma, author of Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads
• Caitlin Doughty of Order of the Good Death
• Carl Schoonover, author of Portraits of the Mind 
• Mel Gordon, author of The Grand Guingol 
• Kate Forde, curator at The Wellcome Collection
• Pat Morris, author of Walter Potter and His Museum of Curious Taxidermy
• Richard Faulk, author of Gross America
• Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class teacher Sue Jeiven
• Elizabeth Bradley, author of Knickerbocker: The Myth behind New York
• Amy Herzog, professor of Professor of Media Studies at Queens College
• Ronni Thomas, creator of The Midnight Archive
• John Troyer, deputy director of the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath
• Artist Zoe Bellof
• Photographer Shannon Taggart
• Richard Harris, "collector of death"
• Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press
• Ross MacFarlane of The Wellcome Library
• Dániel Margócsy, professor of early modern history at Hunter College
• Scholar Salvador Olguin 
• Bookmaker Daniel Smith
• Gemma Angel, Academic, writer, tattooist
• Vadim Kosmos of The Last Tuesday Society
• Michelle Legro of Lapham's Quarterly 
• Joanna Ebenstein of Morbid Anatomy
• Colin Dickey, author of Cranioklepty and Afterlives of the Saints

More Saint Florian, Patron Saint Invoked Against Flooding, From The Wellcome Library

Thanks to Ross MacFarlane from The Wellcome Library--one of our esteemed contributers to the Morbid Anatomy Anthology Volume 1--for sending along an even better image than that last of St. Florian, patron saint invoked against fire, floods and drowning. As the winds rage and the water beats against my flimsy 6th-floor window, fingers crossed that this magical thinking helps!

Image info: Saint Florian. Coloured engraving by F. Nowohradsky, The Wellcome Library. More here.

Halloween-Inspired Memento Mori: "The Dead Have Something to Tell You," Bess Lovejoy, The New York Times

ONCE, we commemorated the dead, left out offerings to feed them and lamps to guide them home. These days, Halloween has drifted far from its roots in pagan and Catholic festivals, and the spirits we appease are no longer those of the dead: needy ghosts have been replaced by costumed children demanding treats.

Over the last century, as Europeans and North Americans began sequestering the dying and dead away from everyday life, our society has been pushing death to the margins. We tune in to television shows about serial killers, but real bodies are hidden from view, edited out of news coverage, secreted behind hospital curtains. The result, as Michael Lesy wrote in his 1987 book The Forbidden Zone, is that when death does occur, “it reverberates like a handclap in an empty auditorium.”

It wasn’t always this way. Death once occurred at home, with friends and family gathered around. Local women were responsible for washing the body and sewing the shroud. People sometimes slept in the same room as corpses, because there was nowhere else to go. In the Middle Ages, cemeteries often acted as the public square: you didn’t just walk on the graves, you ate, drank, traded and sometimes even sang and danced on top of them...

--"The Dead Have Something to Tell You," Bess Lovejoy, The New York Times

A modern day Halloween-inspired Memento Mori in yesterday's New York Times by well-missed friend-of-Morbid-Anatomy Bess Lovejoy, author of the forthcoming book Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses. We hope she will come give a lecture at Observatory as part of her book tour?!?

You can read the entire article by clicking here, and can find out more about the book here.

Image: From The Burns Archive.

Thanks so much, Pam, for bringing this to my attention!

Saint Florian, Patron Saint Invoked Against Floods, 4th Century

We at Morbid Anatomy are busily invoking Saint Florian--patron saint invoked against fire, floods and drowning, as well as patron saints of firefighters--as we wait out Hurricane Sandy and hope for the best outcome for the central flood-zone-located Morbid Anatomy Library.

Top Image: Saint Florian, 1473 painting by Francesco del Cossa. Found on Wikipedia.

Bottom image: The Morbid Anatomy Library in the process of preparing for the worst case scenario at  yesterday.

Fingers crossed that all you East Coasters make it though this, collections and health intact!

Anatomical Venuses! Anthropomorphic Taxidermy! Books Bound in Human Skin! Announcing "The Morbid Anatomy Anthology"

We at Morbid Anatomy are so very excited to announce the forthcoming Morbid Anatomy Anthology--a lavish, illustrated book which will immortalize in print some of the best of the Morbid Anatomy Presents lecture series from the past 5 years. The book, to be co-published by Morbid Anatomy and Strange Attractor Press, will be edited by Morbid Anatomy's Joanna Ebenstein and author, polymath, and many time Observatory-presenter Colin Dickey. By pressing play on the video above, you can learn more.

If you are interested in securing a copy of the book, you can make a donation to our Kickstarter campaign by clicking here; a pledge of $25 or more works essentially as a pre-order, and will secure you a copy of the book, while higher bids will get you a copy of the book as well as additional books by esteemed contributors Zoe Bellof, Mark Dery, Stephen Asma, and Empire of Death's Paul Koudounaris, or signed limited-editions photographs by Morbid Anatomy creator Joanna Ebenstein. Click here to see full list.

The Morbid Anatomy Anthology will cover such topics as anthropodermic bibliopegy (ie. books bound in human skin), 19th Century "Diableries", Henry Wellcome's collections of preserved human tattoos, 19th century death-themed Parisian cabarets, extreme taxidermy, popular wax anatomical models, "collecting death," the uncanny allure of the Anatomical Venus, Santa Muerte and Death in Mexico, L'Inconnue de la Seine, "artist of death" Frederik Ruysch, macabre collections, "human zoos," and much, much, MUCH more.

The rogue scholars, artists, writers, museologists, morticians and scientists whose works will fill this volume will include (in no particular order):

• Evan Michelson, star of TV's "Oddities" and Morbid Anatomy Library Scholar in Residence
• Mark Dery, cultural critic and author of the upcoming The Doubtful Guest: The Mysterious Mind and Legendary Life of Edward Gorey
• Paul Koudounaris, author/photographer of Empire of Death
• Stephen Asma, author of Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads
• Caitlin Doughty of Order of the Good Death
• Carl Schoonover, author of Portraits of the Mind 
• Mel Gordon, author of The Grand Guingol 
• Kate Forde, curator at The Wellcome Collection
• Pat Morris, author of Walter Potter and His Museum of Curious Taxidermy
• Richard Faulk, author of Gross America
• Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class teacher Sue Jeiven
• Elizabeth Bradley, author of Knickerbocker: The Myth behind New York
• Amy Herzog, professor of Professor of Media Studies at Queens College
• Ronni Thomas, creator of The Midnight Archive
• John Troyer, deputy director of the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath
• Artist Zoe Bellof
• Photographer Shannon Taggart
• Richard Harris, "collector of death"
• Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press
• Ross MacFarlane of The Wellcome Library
• Dániel Margócsy, professor of early modern history at Hunter College
• Scholar Salvador Olguin 
• Bookmaker Daniel Smith
• Gemma Angel, Academic, writer, tattooist
• Vadim Kosmos of The Last Tuesday Society
• Michelle Legro of Lapham's Quarterly 
•  Joanna Ebenstein of Morbid Anatomy
• Colin Dickey, author of Cranioklepty and Afterlives of the Saints

Also, for those in the NYC area, tonight we have a fundraising party for the book; this event will feature four mini-lectures by a few of our contributors; Morbid Anatomy's Joanna Ebenstein will give an "Ode to an Anatomical Venus;" Mark Dery will expound on "When Animals Attack!: An Aesop's Fable About Anthropomorphism;" Colin Dickey will regale us with "Some Extraneous Thoughts on Medieval Witches;" and Shannon Taggart will elucidate us with "Documenting the Invisible: Spiritualism, Mediumship and Talking to the Dead." There will also be free cocktails and music complements of the fabulous Friese Undine, and giveaways of wonderful anatomical cutting boards from Kikkerland.

Full details for the event follows, and again, that Kickstarter link is here. Thanks to all of you for your support!

"The Morbid Anatomy Anthology" Publication Fundraiser Party
Fundraising Party for "The Morbid Anatomy Anthology" with contributor mini-lectures. complementary artisinal cocktails, music, and giveaways from Kikkerland
Date: Friday, October 26
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $20
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

We are very pleased to announce the forthcoming Morbid Anatomy Anthology--a lavish, illustrated book which will immortalize in print some of the best of the Morbid Anatomy Presents lecture series from the past 5 years. The book, to be co-published by Morbid Anatomy and Strange Attractor Press, will be edited by Morbid Anatomy's Joanna Ebenstein and author, polymath, and many time Observatory-presenter Colin Dickey.

Tonight's party-- the proceeds of which will go towards the printing and production costs of The Morbid Anatomy Anthology--will feature 15 minute mini-lectures by 4 contributors to the volume: Mark Dery, Colin Dickey, Shannon Taggart and Joanna Ebenstein. There will also be a Midnight Archive screening, complementary artisinal cocktails and music provided by Friese Undine and giveaways of wonderful anatomical cutting boards from Kikkerland.

Special thanks to Ronni Thomas, creator of The Midnight Archive, for donating his significant talent to creating the video component of this campaign.

"Relics of the Weird," Colin Dickey with Morbid Anatomy, Word, Brooklyn, Saturday October 27

For those who live in the New York City area and have not already had too much of Morbid Anatomy this season: I would love to see you this Friday at "Relics of the Weird," a book event for Colin Dickey's wonderful Afterlives of the Saints, wherein he will read from the book, and we will show and discuss artifacts of Catholicism drawn from the Morbid Anatomy Library permanent collection.

Full details follow; hope to see you there!

Relics of the Weird
Colin Dickey and Morbid Anatomy
Saturday October 27, 2012
7:00 pm
Word Book Store (126 Franklin Street, Brooklyn)

Get your creep on early! Colin Dickey (Afterlives of the Saints, Cranioklepty) and Brooklyn's own Morbid Anatomy will host a night in honor of some of the weirder relics in history, complete with slideshow and Halloween candy.

More here.

Image: "Incorruptible Saint" in Milan

Seeking Hi Resolution of Dance of Death Poster, 1919, Attributed to Josef Fenneker

Greetings all; do any of you lovely Morbid Anatomy readers out there happen to have a high-resolution version of the above image, or know a book that contains it, or another way I might source it? Please send any suggestions to morbidanatomy@gmail.com. Thanks so much!

Full citation for image, from a 2010 Swann Gallery auction:

THE DANCE OF DEATH. 1919.
ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEF FENNEKER (1895-1956)
54 1/2x41 inches, 138 1/2x104 cm. 

Condition B+: restoration along vertical and horizontal folds; minor restoration in margins.
Fenneker designed over three hundred movie posters. His recognizable style drew largely on German Expressionism combined with a flair of aesthetic decadence. Written by Fritz Lang, Totentanz is considered by The Internet Movie Database to be a "lost film [in which] a beautiful dancer's sexual allure is used by an evil cripple to entice men to their deaths. Falling in love with one of the potential victims, she is told by the cripple that he will set her free if her lover, actually a murderer himself, survives and escapes a bizarre labyrinthe which runs beneath the cripple's house" (www.imdb.com). Even without a signature, this poster is clearly the work of Fenneker. Although another image by Fenneker for this film exists, this particular version is previously unrecorded.
Estimate $2,000-3,000

"Morbid Anatomy Anthology" Fundraiser! Halloween Insect Shadowboxes! Sugar Skull Workshop! Day of the Dead Party! Morbid Anatomy Presents This Week and Beyond at Observatory

Morbid Anatomy Presents This Week and Beyond at Observatory: Morbid Anatomy Anthology publication fundraising party with mini-lectures, cocktails, giveaways, screenings, music and delightful co-editor Colin Dickey! Thematic Halloween edition of our popular Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox class! Sugar Skull workshop! Observatory annual Day of the Dead Party!

Hope to see you at one or more of these great events.

"The Morbid Anatomy Anthology" Publication Fundraiser Party
Fundraising Party for "The Morbid Anatomy Anthology" with contributor mini-lectures. complementary artisinal cocktails, music, and giveaways from Kikkerland
Date: Friday, October 26
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $20
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

We are very pleased to announce the forthcoming Morbid Anatomy Anthology--a lavish, illustrated book which will immortalize in print some of the best of the Morbid Anatomy Presents lecture series from the past 5 years. The book, to be co-published by Morbid Anatomy and Strange Attractor Press, will be edited by Morbid Anatomy's Joanna Ebenstein and author, polymath, and many time Observatory-presenter Colin Dickey.

Tonight's party-- the proceeds of which will go towards the printing and production costs of The Morbid Anatomy Anthology--will feature 15 minute mini-lectures by 4 contributors to the volume: Mark Dery, Colin Dickey, Shannon Taggart and Joanna Ebenstein. There will also be a Midnight Archive screening, complementary artisinal cocktails and music provided by Friese Undine and giveaways of wonderful anatomical cutting boards from Kikkerland.

ABOUT THE BOOK
The Morbid Anatomy Anthology will cover such topics as anthropodermic bibliopegy (ie. books bound in human skin), 19th Century "Diableries", Henry Wellcome's collections of preserved human tattoos, 19th century death-themed Parisian cabarets, extreme taxidermy, popular wax anatomical models, collecting death, the Anatomical Venus, Santa Muerte and Death in Mexico, "artist of death" Frederik Ruysch, macabre collections, and much, much, MUCH more.

The rogue scholars, artists, writers, museologists, morticians and scientists whose works fill this volume will include Morbid Anatomy Library Scholar in Residence and star of TV's "Oddities" Evan Michelson; Mark Dery, cultural critic and author of the upcoming The Doubtful Guest: The Mysterious Mind and Legendary Life of Edward Gorey; Paul Koudounaris, author/photographer of Empire of Death; Stephen Asma, author of Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads; Caitlin Doherty of Order of the Good Death; Carl Schoonover, author of Portraits of the Mind; Mel Gordon, author of The Grand Guingol; Kate Forde, curator at The Wellcome Collection; Pat Morris, author of Walter Potter and His Museum of Curious Taxidermy; Ronni Thomas, creator of The Midnight Archive; John Troyer, deputy director of the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath; Artist Zoe Bellof; Photographer Shannon Taggart; Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press; Ross MacFarlane of The Welcome Library; Joanna Ebenstein of Morbid Anatomy; writer Colin Dickey; and many, many more.

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Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop: Special Halloween Edition, with Former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton
With Daisy Tainton, Former Senior Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural History
Dates: Saturday, October 27 (Special Halloween 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 Halloween-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?

Image: "Suicide Beetle," By Daisy Tainton, Teacher of workshop

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Sugar Skull Decorating Workshop and Lecture: El Dia de los Muertos in Context -- How the Day of the Dead Exemplifies the Greater Culture of Death in Mexico
Workshop and lecture with Dru Munsell
Date: Monday, October 29
Time: 8:00
Admission: $50
Produced by Morbid Anatomy
**** Class size limited; must RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com

Mexico possesses a rich and complex relationship with death that extends far beyond the Day of the Dead holiday and its iconic sugar skulls. Indeed, from Mexico's indigenous Mayans through her occupations and revolutions, death has taken a leading role in the formation of the country's varied culture, causing scholar Claudio Lomnitz to even name Death as the symbol of Mexico's national identity.

The lecture portion of this workshop seeks to facilitate a deeper understanding not only of Southern Mexico's sugar skulls and El Dia de los Muertos as a whole, but also framing what is often thought of as the Mexican version of Halloween within the greater context of a culture that has blended indigenous practices, colonization's Catholic religion, and the subsequent revolutions and violence, recognizing death as a necessary part of life not to be ignored or feared, but embraced and celebrated.
For this workshop, each attendee will be provided with a blank, undecorated sugar skull, fully assembled, dried, and ready to decorate. Royal icing in bright colors as well as other traditional decorative materials such as sequins and colored foils will be provided. Each attendee is encouraged to bring any personal decorating items they wish to use if they are making a skull for a specific departed individual, though smaller items are recommended. Traditional themes and patterns will be discussed, as well as decoration application techniques. At the end of the workshop, each person will have their own large sugar skull to take home. Because of the drying time involved with the royal icing, it is advised that skulls be left at Observatory to dry and set, and that finished skulls be picked up at the annual El Dia de los Muertos party. Extra blank skulls will be available for purchase for those interested, as well as directions for making the royal icing recipe that is recommended for skull decoration.

Dru Munsell is a biological anthropology degree candidate at Columbia University specializing in forensics, pathological human anatomy, and cultural fetish and taboo. She examines these topics in her thesis on the intersection of science and spectacle as literally embodied by both the "born different" and "working acts" of sideshow and circus performance. Dru currently works as an intern for the Morbid Anatomy Library as well as a scientific consultant, archivist, transcriber, and Jane-of-all-Trades for James Taylor's Shocked & Amazed: On and Off the Midway. After completing her studies, she plans to either work with the governmental agency, DMORT, doing body identification at scenes of mass death with a particular interest in the mass graves of post-colonial revolutions and genocides in Latin America, or running away and joining the circus.



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Annual Observatory Day of the Dead and Halloween Costume PartyMusic, Performance, Costumes, Tequila, Traditional Altar, Sugar Skulls, Death Piñata, and tacos provided by our favorite local taqueria Oaxaca!
Date: Saturday, November 3
Time: Doors at 8:00 PM, Performance at 9
Admission: $15
Presented by Morbid Anatomy and Borderline Projects

Please join us on Saturday, November 3 for the annual Observatory Halloween/Day of the Dead costume party! This year we will welcome back the ghosts of the dead in the tradition of our favorite holiday--the Mexican Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead--with Aztec dances and chants, traditional foods and drink, tacos catered by local favorite taqueria Oaxaca, episodes of The Midnight Archive, tequila, music, sugar skulls, our beloved La Catrina, a Day of the Dead Altar honoring the late Chavela Vargas and Neil Armstrong and, as always, an opportunity to strike a mortal blow to our beautiful piñata of Lady Death herself! There will also be, as always, the opportunity to don--and admire other!--amazing Day of the Dead-themed costumes.

The year's iteration will include:

ENTERTAINMENT!

• Cetiliztli Nauhcampa: Aztec dances and chants
• Borderline Projects's Salvador Olguín with a brief lecture on the origins and significance of Day of the Dead celebrations
• The Midnight Archive: Screenings of The Midnight Archive, Ronni Thomas' web series based on Observatory
• Music: Halloween music for the all night dance party

FOOD AND DRINK!

• Event will be catered by local favorite taqueria Oaxaca!

TRADITIONAL DAY OF THE DEAD ATTRACTIONS!

• Day of the Dead Altar honoring the late Chavela Vargas and Neil Armstrong.
• Special appearance by our very own La Catrina
• Pan de Muerto: Indulge in this traditional dessert called Bread of Death
• Piñata: Dash death to smithereens with our annual death piñata!
• Sugar skulls: Decorate and eat or bring home your own Day of the Dead sugar skull
• Offerings to the Departed: In some places in Mexico, people leave small, coffin-like figures out for the souls of the departed. Guests are invited to leave their own offering; they will be available at the installation.

For photos from last years' party, click here. Hope very much to see you there.
Image: Rebeca Olguín

NOVEMBER EVENTS

November 8: *** POSTPONED; STAY TUNED FOR NEW DATE 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, with J.W. Ocker 

November 13: The Abuses of Enchantment: Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing with Mark Pilkington, Author of “Mirage Men: An Adventure into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs” 

November 19: From the Akashic Jukebox: Magic and Music in Britain, 1888-1978: Illustrated Lecture and Rare British Occult Recordings with Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press.

 You can get a full list of upcoming events by clicking here.

Morbid Anatomy Speaking at "Seize the Day," A Special Day of the Dead Inspired Program at The Wellcome Collection, London, November 2, 7 PM

For those in London and environs: I would love to see you next month at "Seize the Day," a special Day of the Dead inspired program taking place at my all-time favorite institution, The Wellcome Collection, on the evening of Friday, November 2. I will be giving an illustrated talk as part of the wonderful-looking evenings line-up that will also include drinking, dancing, and general death-related merriment.

Full details follow; hope very much to raise a glass with you there!

Seize the Day
02 November 2012, 19.00 - 23.00
The Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE

Experience a brush with death at our special Friday-night late, and explore what death has to tell us about life. If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you choose to do today? How would you like to be remembered after you die? And what would you like to achieve before you go? Ponder these questions while enjoying stimulating talks, enchanting stories from around the world and activities throughout the galleries. Enjoy a drink while listening to a Dixieland jazz band. Decorate a coffin, pick up some dance steps in our special ‘Last Dance’ class and design your ideal fantasy funeral. Join us to embrace the inevitability of death and celebrate while we still can!

Featuring:

•  Joanna Ebenstein, founder of the Morbid Anatomy blog and library, on facing up to death through art

•  David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk, University of Cambridge, on the statistics of death

•  Frank Swain, author of ‘Zombology: The new science of zombies, reanimation and mind control’ on science’s investigations into the final frontier

•  Activities in the galleries from The Natural Death Centre

•  New Orleans jazz funeral tunes from the Silk Street Jazz band

•  Stories of God, the Devil and Death from the Crick Crack Club

•  Tea dance classes from former dancer and teacher Glen Snowden

•  ‘Immortal Dream’ from Contemporary Vintage.

This event is free, so drop in any time. Talks are ticketed and tickets will be available on the night. 

You can find out more about this event here.

Image: Memento Mori, Andrea Previtali, 1502; Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan ; sourced here.

Morbid Anatomy Library: One of the "7 Grossest Wonders of the USA," According to CNN

Thanks to good friend and genius writer Richard Faulk--author of the unfortunately named but no less wonderful Gross America--The Morbid Anatomy Library has just been awarded the dubious honor of being voted one of the top 7 "Grossest Wonders of the USA" on CNN.

You can read Mr. Faulk's entire list, and his entry on The Morbid Anatomy Library, by clicking here. You can find out more about the elegantly and eruditely written book--and even buy a copy of your own!--by clicking here.

To find out more about the library, click here; for those curious to see this "weird art and antique medicine cum gallery and lecture space [which] hosts occasional classes in anthropmorphic taxidermy," please stop by open hours this Sunday, 1-6. More on that here.

Ode to Anatomical Waxworks at I09

The website I09 just published a very nice ode to all things Anatomical Wax, drawing heavily from the Morbid Anatomy Archives; Highly recommended! Check it out by clicking here; all images drawn from that post.

Care and Conservation of Early 19th Century Wax Anatomical Models

If you are interested in knowing more about anatomical waxes, you could do worse than to check out today's entry, "Waxing Lyrical," on The Science Museum's "Stories from the Stores" blog to read conservator Emily Yates' account of cleaning this circa 1818 Italian wax by by Francesco Calenzuoli for the wonderful looking exhibition Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men at the Museum of London, running until 14 April 2013. 

You can find out more about this particular piece by clicking here; click on images to see much larger, finer versions. Caption reads: This anatomical wax model shows the internal organs, the heart is entirely removable, made by Francesco Calenzuoli (1796-1821) ( Science Museum, London )

Morbid Anatomy Library Open Hours This Sunday, October 21, From 1-6

This Sunday, October 21, the Morbid Anatomy Library (seen above) will be hosting open, no-appointment-necessary drop in hours from 1 to 6. So feel free to drop in for a perusal of the stacks and and rifling through the drawers.

For more about the Morbid Anatomy Library and for directions and other such information, click here.

Photo of The Library by Shannon Taggart

Ars Moriendi (The Art of Dying), Loreto Prague, Through November 30th

Exciting exhibition alert; I am severely tempted to try to make it here before it closes...

ARS MORIENDI
Loreto Prague, Loretánské nám.7,  118 00 Praha 1 – Hradčany
Exhibition extended until 30th November.

The aim of the exhibition is, above all, to introduce to the public the hitherto unknown space of the crypt for benefactors beneath the church of the Nativity of Our Lord. A fascinating discovery in the crypt revealed unique Baroque mural paintings depicting motifs of Death and Resurrection – allegories of Time, symbols of fragility and transience of human existence. These frescos of exceptional quality were created in 1664 by the means of the special technique of chiaroscuro – employing exclusively the shades of black and grey. The work of their author, perhaps a Capuchin order painter, was derived from the Flemish and Dutch prints and was commissioned by the then patroness of Loreto, Countess Elisabeth Apollonia of Kolowrat. The main scene depicting the Raising of Lazarus was based on the famous etching by Rembrandt, which later inspired numerous artists across the centuries, including Van Gogh – the Loreto fresco is remarkable because it is a very early reaction to Rembrandt’s work created while he was still alive...

... Part of the presentation will be dedicated to other interesting exhibits associated with the burial practices in Loreto – for example the unknown ground plan of the Lobkowicz crypt of patrons beneath Santa Casa, design of Castrum Doloris created in 1698 for the burial of the Count Václav Ferdinand of Lobkowicz, collection of the Baroque funerary textiles or several reliquary crosses which were part of the Loreto treasure and had not yet been exhibited.

The exhibition will also introduce the customs related to burying in the Capuchin order crypts. Borrowed for this occasion from the Brno crypt were Baroque coffin lids with painted decoration, portraits and coats of arms of selected donors who sought their final resting place with the Capuchins. The perception of the order spirituality of Franciscan observance in the funerary sphere is broadened by the presentation of two Baroque Franciscan convent mortuaries.

It rarely happens that an entirely unknown monument in the centre of Prague is discovered. The Loreto exhibition offers an opportunity to get more closely acquainted with the impressive crypt space decorated with unique paintings and with the Baroque ARS MORIENDI – The Art of Dying – the inner grasp of the end of human existence as a gate to eternal life.

You can find out more here. Thanks so much to Pam Grossman for letting me know about this!

Santa Muerte, San la Muerte and The Fascinating History of Death Personified in Latin America

I took the photos you see above over a series of trips to Los Angeles to document the fascinating phenomonon of Santa Muerte, a sacred figure worshipped as part of the larger pantheon of Catholic saints in Mexico and now also, with the wave of Mexican migrants, in the United States as well. Thought to have its roots in a syncretism of the beliefs of the native Latin Americans and the colonizing Spanish Catholics, the name literally means "Holy Death" or "Saint Death," and she--also fondly referred to as "The Skinny Lady--tends to be worshipped by disenfranchised members of society such as criminals, prostitutes, transvestites, the very poor, and other people for whom conventional Catholicism has not provided a better or safer life.

Doing some research into the matter, I recently stumbled upon Frank Graziano's Cultures of Devotion: Folk Saints of Spanish America, which offers fascinating insight into the genesis of both Santa Muerte and the very similar San La Muerte tradition, which developed independently from a similar native/Catholic syncretism in other areas of Latin America; I also would give anything to see one of the bizarre theatrical productions described below:

In the Jesuit missions, the publication of many books included, in 1705, a translation of Juan Eusebio Nieremberg's De la Diferencia Entre lo Temporal y Eterno. Among the engravings in the book was one of a triumphant personified death, holding a sickle (a variation on the scythe) in one and and an hourglass in the other. Death as a skeleton also appears in another image, which was likewise copied from a European original. 

These engravings document the presence of the Grim Reaper in the missions, but more important in folk culture were theatrical productions staged by the Jesuits for the Guaranís' religious instruction. The performances often included Christ's resurrection, with props of skulls and bones and with the Grim Reaper in the supporting cast for dramatization of Christ's triumph over death. Such performances contributed to fixing the personified image of death within a religious context. 

Almost all the artists in Jesuit missions were Guaranís who were trained by Europeans. These indigenous carvers of saints thought of their work more religiously than artistically: "Image-makers quite literally believed that they were making saints and gods." This observation is particularly suggestive in the context of San La Muerte, whose traditionalal carvers were likewise creating, not representing, a supernatural power. For the Guaraní mission artists, "The reality of things was not expressed by imitating their visual appearance, as in European art, but by capturing their essence." The imagery, including the image of death personified, was adopted from European traditions and then invested with this "essence." The carvings transcend mere representation and become empowered in themselves like amulets.

All of this also brings to mind the wonderful 18th century book La Portentosa Vida de la Muerte (The Astounding Life of Death); more on that here.

All photos you see above are from my trips to Los Angeles to document the Santa Muerta phenomenon; for more, click here to see my complete Flickr set.

Desperately Seeking Diableries or Phantasmagoria Slides in Hi-Resolution

Greetings, all. I am currently working on a project that requires hi-resolution images of Stereo-Diableries or Phantasmagoria slides. If anyone thinks they might be able to help, please email me at morbidanatomy@gmail.com. Thank you very much!

Image: Front and back lit Stereo-Diableries, found on the London Stereoscopic Company website; see more there by clicking here.

Morbid Anatomy Presents at Observatory: Upcoming Events, Parties, and Spectacles

Cocktails and "Gross America!" Morbid Anatomy Library Open Studios! Films that influenced the Quay Brothers! "Morbid Anatomy Compendium"--published in tandem with Strange Attractor Press--" Fundraising and launch Party! Insect Shadowboxes for Halloween! Sugar skull workshop! Day of the Dead Costume Party with tequila, traditional altar, Aztec dances and our annual Lady Death Piñata! Macabre New York! Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press on the abuses of enchantment an occult British music! Morbid Anatomy presents for the upcoming week and beyond:

"Gross America" Book Launch PartyAn Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing with Richard Faulk, with Music and Cocktails by Friese Undine
Date: **** Thursday, October 11 (NOTE DATE CHANGE)
Time: 8:00
Admission: $5
Produced by Morbid Anatomy
*** Copies of Gross America will be available for sale and signing

Don’t judge a book by its cover. And don’t judge this collection of American oddities solely by their gross exterior. With wit and insight backed up by meticulous research, Gross America, the debut book by genial polymath Richard Faulk, takes you places you thought you never wanted to see, to unearth stories you’d never imagined.

What is Gross America?
Gross America is toothsome concoction of science and nature trivia, served with a side of sagacity and wit, and delivered in an irresistibly putrescent bundle.

No, really: What is Gross America?
Ok, it’s a travel guide to the grossest sites our 50 states have to offer. Sniff out the chemical secrets of the celebrated “sperm tree” of Los Angeles; gaze into the innards of North America’s sole surviving anatomical Venus; thumb the pages of a prison memoir bound in the memoirist’s own skin; or sneak a peek into the chamber pot used by the real-life Uncle Sam.

And those are just a fraction of the potential verb-object parings made possible by this nasty little book.

On top of being a sheer joy to read (he wrote modestly), Gross America offers an introduction to the wild nature of our 50 states and a window into some of the more perplexing moments of science, past and present. It will answer questions you might never have realized you had, and change the way you think about things you never wanted to think about in the first place.

You may never look at toxic waste the same way again.

Why should I come to the release party?
Well, at the very least, you’ll probably get drunk. There will be music, too. There will also be a discussion, and you will be able to ask the author impertinent questions about his book, and you will become intrigued enough to buy it. Which you will also be able to do.

RICHARD FAULK is a writer, editor, and Observatory habitué. A onetime time-travel columnist and occasional education reporter, he has also written about Vikings for Australian tweens, covered academic conferences for Columbia University, and celebrated the films of Pam Grier in Penthouse. He now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he thinks deeply about trivial matters.

Image: Model from The Monroe Moosnick Medical and Science Museum, Transylvania University in Lexington, KY; by Merkin J. Pus-Tart, Kingdom of Fife blog.
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Morbid Anatomy Library Open StudiosDates: Saturday October 13 and Sunday October 14
Time: 12-6
Admission: FREE
Produced by Morbid Anatomy

This weekend, October 13th and 14th, please join the Morbid Anatomy Library as we join dozens of other Gowanus-based galleries and artist studios in opening our spaces to the public for the Gowanus Artists Studio Tour, or "A.G.A.S.T."
So stop by, peruse the stacks, take a gander at the human articulated skeleton, and join us for a glass (or 3) of cheap red wine.

Directions: Enter the Morbid Anatomy Library and Observatory via Proteus Gowanus GalleryR or M train to Union Street in Brooklyn: Walk two long blocks on Union (towards the Gowanus Canal) to Nevins Street. 543 Union Street is the large red brick building on right. Go right on Nevins and left down alley through large black gates. Gallery is the second door on the left.

F or G train to Carroll Street: Walk one block to Union. Turn right, walk two long blocks on Union towards the Gowanus Canal, cross the bridge, take left on Nevins, go down the alley to the second door on the left.

You can find out more information about A.G.A.S.T., and get a full list of participants, by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory and the exhibition now on view by clicking here.

Photo of The Morbid Anatomy Library by Shannon Taggart.

And in the weeks and months to come:

• October 16: “Bunny Suits of Death, Tales of a CSI”:  An Illustrated Lecture with Forensic Investigator and Author Laura Merz
• October 18: Influences and Affinities: Animated Shorts the Quay Brothers May Have Watched: A collection of short animated films curated by SVA’s Thyrza Nichols Goodeve 
• October 26: “The Morbid Anatomy Compendium:” Fundraiser/Launch and Save the Date
• October 27: Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop: Special Halloween Edition, with Former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton 
• October 29: Sugar Skull Decorating Workshop and Lecture: El Dia de los Muertos in Context — How the Day of the Dead Exemplifies the Greater Culture of Death in Mexico: Lecture and workshop with Dru Munell 
• November 3: Observatory Annual Day of the Dead/Halloween Party
• November 8: 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, with J.W. Ocker
• November 13: The Abuses of Enchantment: Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing with Mark Pilkington, Author of “Mirage Men: An Adventure into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs” 
• November 19: From the Akashic Jukebox: Magic and Music in Britain, 1888-1978: Illustrated Lecture and Rare British Occult Recordings with Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press

 More here.