SASS Presents "Haunted History," with Morbid Anatomy, Todd Cobb and Michelle Legro; Monday, October 14, Brooklyn, NY. FREE!

Are you are free and in or about the greater New York area tomorrow night--Monday October 14? If so, perhaps you might be interested in a night of short lectures devoted to the notion of "Haunted History," organized by The Society for the Advancement of Social Studies! As part of the evening's festivities, Morbid Anatomy's Joanna Ebenstein will be giving a heavily-illustrated talk on death-themed arts, crafts and amusements; Todd Cobb will relay the history of the ghost story; and the lovely Michelle Legro will " reveal the grisly beginnings" of the Madame Tussaud Empire.

The event is also free, and there will be drinks and music!

Full details follow; hope to see you there!

"Haunted History" Presented by The Society for the Advancement of Social Studies

Date: Monday, October 14

Time: Doors at 7:00 PM/Lectures at 7:30
Admission: Free
Location: Cameo Gallery (93 North 6th Street, Brooklyn, 11211) Secret Back Room!

The Society for the Advancement of Social Studies (SASS!) is proud to present a series of free lectures designed to both entertain and enlighten. Once a month we meet at a bar to discuss historical topics that you probably knew at one point but don’t remember anymore. Plus, themed drink specials.

Monday night's event on Haunted History will consist of three short lectures:

Cultures of Death: An Informal History, in which the Morbid Anatomy Library's Joanna Ebenstein will talk about how death-themed arts, crafts and amusements have been used as medication for our own feelings on the topic.

The History of Ghost Stories, Featuring Historic Ghost Stories, in which Todd Cobb tells us why cultures the world over are fascinated by these nebulous beings.

Madame Tussaud: Hot Wax and Cold Stiffs, in which Michelle Legro reveals the grisly beginnings of this Times Square classic.

DJ Kate Pilgrim will make you do the Monster Mash

http://pilgrimsofsound.wordpress.com/

More info on the event at

http://getsaucedatsass.tumblr.com/

More info here.

New York Academy of Medicine All-Day "Wonder Cabinet and Medical History Festival" Curated by Lawrence Weschler and Morbid Anatomy, Saturday, October 5, NYC

Did you know that there is a world-class medical library in New York City? And that it is located in a gorgeous historical building (see above)? And that its open to the public to boot? No? Well, don't feel too bad. Neither, it seems, do many people, beyond the dedicated readers--from scholars to artists--who make use of its resources. 

Please allow me, then, to introduce you to the very lovely and highly wonderful New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM). Founded in 1847 and located in Manhattan at Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street, this library--which I have had the happy opportunity to excavate at length--houses and makes available to the public a wide variety of historical treasures and curiosities.

My good friend Lisa O'Sullivan--formerly senior medical curator at The Science Museum in London--is the director of NYAM's Center for the History of Medicine and Public Health, which she is keen to develop into a space to nurture people operating at the intersections of medicine and the humanities. I am sure we can all agree, her conception will provide a welcome addition to the New York scene!

Lisa has invited Morbid Anatomy to explore and blog about NYAM's wonderful rare and historical materials here and on the Center's own Books, Health and History blog. She has also invited Morbid Anatomy to co-curate--along with Lawrence Weschler, former director of NYU Institute for the Humanities/Wonder Cabinet series and author of the amazing Mr. Wilson and his Cabinet of Wonders--a day of public programming for an open house which will place in just over a month, on Saturday, October 5.

This all day, open-to-the-public, mostly free (!) "Wonder Cabinet and Medical History Festival" will include lectures, workshops, demonstrations and, at the end of the day, a party featuring medical films from the National Library of Medicine, the music of DJ Friese Undine, and an open bar. Speakers and participants will include neurologist and author Oliver Sacks along with such Morbid Anatomy regulars as cultural critic Mark Dery, Portraits of the Mind author Carl Schoonover, the National Library of Medicine's Michael Sappol, media historian Amy Herzog, historian Daniel Margocsy, medical illustrator Marie Dauenheimer and Cranioklepty author Colin Dickey.

A series of 20-minute mini-lectures will explore such varied topics as 18th century wax anatomical models; "Anthropodermic bibliopegy," or books bound in human skin; Charles Wilson Peale and the first American museum (by an authentic Peale descendent!); Ruysch, Descartes and the Problem of Wax; Cranioklepty, or the thefts of famous skulls; An iconography of rays, beams, and waves in medical drawings from 1920-1960; death and the diorama; "Terror management theory"; and neuroscience from antiquity to Cajal.

Reprises of some of our most popular Morbid Anatomy Art Academy workshops will give you the opportunity to craft your own Hans Holbein-inspired Dance of Death linoleum cut; dissect and draw with real anatomical specimens; learn the principles of comparative anatomy with the aid of animal skeletons; and learn the antiquated carbon dust method of medical illustration.

Visitors will also have to chance to take in a medical wax moulage demonstration by wax artist Sigrid Sarda, an "anatomy performance" in which artist Kriota Willberg demonstrates the musculoskeletal system on a live model, and the crafting of a memento mori-themed linoleum cut. They will also have the chance to explore the fantastic inner spaces of this incredible and under-seen New York landmark.

You can find out more about the event by clicking here; stay tuned for more about both the event and the rich holdings of the NYAM in these weeks leading up to the event.

This is sure to be an amazing event; I hope very much to see you there!

JOB OPENING: Administrative Assistant, Library, New York Academy of Medicine, New York City

The Malloch Rare Book Room at the New York Academy of Medicine.

Another job alert just in from the wonderful New York Academy of Medicine! Full details follow:

Title: Administrative Assistant
Division: Library

The Center for the History of Medicine and Public Health at the New York Academy of Medicine is looking for an energetic, motivated and highly organized Administrative Assistant. The Assistant will report to the Center Director, be responsible for the day to day administration of the Center and provide support to the Director and other staff members in the delivery of programs and activities.

The Center for the History of Medicine and Public Health is NYAM’s newest Center, and this position offers an outstanding opportunity for an administrator looking to develop the range and depth of his or her skills and expertise. The role will suit an individual who is keen to take on new challenges. The Administrative Assistant will be offered the opportunity to develop specialized skills as needed by the Center. Candidates with an interest in developing public programming and using social media to build audiences are particularly welcome.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage the day to day administration of the Center
• Provide administrative support for the Director, and other department members when appropriate, including coordinating schedules and managing calendars
• Assist in research, preparation and follow-up of funding proposals
• Organize meetings for internal and external participants
• Maintain office budgets and invoicing requests
• Help plan events and programming
• Coordinate arrangements for speakers and workshop and seminar participants
• Organize and maintain filing systems and other records
•  Help manage the online presence of the Center

Qualifications

Required

• 3-5 years of related administrative experience
• Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills
• Attention to detail, accuracy and consistency in executing tasks
• Problem solving skills and ability to work independently
• Ability to manage many projects in fast-paced environment and meet deadlines
• Ability to quickly learn and apply new skills
• Excellent computer and web skills including Microsoft Office Suite 
• Good grammatical, writing, proofreading, and editing ability
• Ability to interact with internal and external individuals at all levels in a professional manner

Desirable

• Familiarity with database software
• Experience using social media
• An interest in history, medicine, health, or policy issues.

Experience

Bachelor’s degree preferred or equivalent.

To Apply

Please email a resume and cover letter to hr@nyam.org.

Please include "Administrative Assistant” in subject line.

For more information, visit our website: www.nyam.org.

The New York Academy of Medicine is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.The New York Academy of Medicine advances the health of people in cities. An independent organization since 1847, NYAM addresses the health challenges facing the world's urban populations through interdisciplinary approaches to policy leadership, education, community engagement and innovative research.

Drawing on the expertise of diverse partners worldwide and more than 2,000 elected Fellows from across the professions, our current priorities are

To create environments in cities that support healthy aging
To strengthen systems that prevent disease and promote the public's health
To implement interventions that eliminate health disparities
Summary and Description

Mission of the Institution

The New York Academy of Medicine advances the health of people in cities. An independent organization since 1847, NYAM addresses the health challenges facing the world's urban populations through interdisciplinary approaches to policy leadership, evaluation, education, community engagement and innovative research.

Drawing on the expertise of diverse partners worldwide and more than 2,000 elected Fellows from across the professions, our current priorities are

• To create environments in cities that support healthy aging
• To strengthen systems that prevent disease and promote the public's health
• To implement interventions that eliminate health disparities

The Center for the History of Medicine and Public Health

The New York Academy of Medicine Center for the History of Medicine and Public Health promotes the scholarly and public understanding of the history of medicine and public health and the history of the book. The Center is made up of the Library, Rare Book and Historical Collection and Gladys Brooks Conservation Laboratory.  The Center aims to develop connections between an interdisciplinary community of scholars, educators, clinicians, curatorial and conservation professionals, and public audiences.

The NYAM Library opened its collections to the general public in 1878, and remains the only independent research library in NYC offering access to medical and health information for members of the public. The Research Library has a collection that includes over 500,000 volumes, 275,000 portraits and illustrations and around 400,000 pamphlets.  The collection comprises primary and secondary materials in the history of medicine, public health, science and other health-related disciplines. The collection is supported by an extensive reference collection of medical bibliography, biography, biographical dictionaries, dictionaries and library catalogues, as well as books on the history of books and printing.

The Center’s Rare Book and Historical Collections include a rare book collection of approximately 35,000 volumes.  Books from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries are a particular strength, as are materials related to the history of medicine in the City of New York.

The Gladys Brooks Book and Paper Conservation Laboratory was established in 1982 for the express purpose of caring for the NYAM collections.  In addition to its preservation mandate, the Lab also plays an important role in the training of future generations of conservators through its internship and volunteer programs and offers professional educational opportunities through a robust calendar of workshops and lectures.

You can find out more here.

"Remember That You Will Die: Death Across Cultures," Rubin Museum, Through August 9th, 2010

Eerie personifications of death greet the visitor in the form of two pairs of sculptures of skeleton figures: weathered lindenwood figures from 17th-century Germany extend bony, beckoning hands, while macabre bronzes from Tibet portray a yogic brother and sister engrossed in a mad dance—as skin peels off like furled ribbons. Both sculptural pairs warn of the fleeting nature of life: in the Western tradition, as memento mori, and in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, as an incentive to make diligent use of precious human rebirth...

I just found out about an excellent sounding exhibition on view through August 9th at the Rubin Museum in New York City. Entitled "Remember That You Will Die: Death Across Cultures," the exhibition seeks to explore the "fascinating parallels and significant differences in the depiction of death over the centuries...focusing on works of art from Medieval and Early Renaissance Europe and Tibet."

It seems that the curators for this exhibition have cast a refreshingly broad net in their search for artifacts; the exhibition includes objects drawn from the American Museum of Natural History, London's Wellcome Collection, the Harvard Museum or Art and the New York Public Library as well as from the Rubin's permanent collection. I am incredibly curious to see this show and hope to see more broad, multi-disciplinary shows like this one in this museum's future!

Full details, from the press release:

Remember That You Will Die: Death Across Cultures
The Rubin Museum of Art finds fascinating parallels and significant differences in the depiction of death over the centuries in "Remember That You Will Die," an exhibition focusing on works of art from Medieval and Early Renaissance Europe and Tibet.

Serving as memento mori (death remembrances), the 84 works of art and artifacts on view range from a 12th-century be-jeweled bronze reliquary arm from Belgium to a wooden club carved into the shape of a skeleton from Tibet. The one contemporary work, a video by the American artist Bill Viola entitled The Three Women, is being exhibited in New York for the first time.

Eerie personifications of death greet the visitor in the form of two pairs of sculptures of skeleton figures: weathered lindenwood figures from 17th-century Germany extend bony, beckoning hands, while macabre bronzes from Tibet portray a yogic brother and sister engrossed in a mad dance—as skin peels off like furled ribbons. Both sculptural pairs warn of the fleeting nature of life: in the Western tradition, as memento mori, and in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, as an incentive to make diligent use of precious human rebirth.

“We have found one common denominator in the works of art we have gathered for Remember That You Will Die: whether from Europe or Tibet, all serve as reminders to the righteous that life is transient and volatile and that the believer must adhere to religious guidelines in order to safeguard a better hereafter,” says Martin Brauen, chief curator, Rubin Museum of Art. Dr. Brauen has organized the exhibition in collaboration with Karl Debreczeny, senior curator, Rubin Museum of Art, and Bonnie B. Lee, curatorial consultant.

Among the subjects found in the section of the presentation devoted to Western works are the danse macabre, or Dance of Death, and heaven, purgatory, and hell; among the Buddhist works, the landscape of the afterlife, whether it be paradise or hell, and brutal scenes of charnel grounds (considered ideal places to confront the fear of death through meditation).

"Remember That You Will Die" is to be shown concurrently at the Rubin Museum of Art with Bardo (February 12 through September 6, 2010), an exhibition, named for the intermediate state between death and enlightenment or rebirth in Tantric Buddhism, featuring works of art that have been used for centuries to prepare the initiate for death.

Exhibition Highlights
A number of the featured objects in "Remember That You Will Die" draw from popular folk traditions reflecting the societal preoccupation with death in Europe in the wake of The Black Death (14th century). Among these is The Dance of Death (1538), an engraving by Hans Holbein the Younger, depicting the danse macabre, an allegory for death not found in the Bible but acted out in plays and painted in church frescoes across the European continent to prompt Christian believers into piety as a way to guarantee salvation. Here, Holbein shows a peddler going along a country road with his wares as Death drags him in the opposite direction—to the underworld— while another Death figure in the shadows plays a long mandolin/violin-like bowed instrument, with his back turned to the peddler. Death, especially in the danse macabre form, often is seen to dance gaily and/or play musical instruments.

Two rosaries and two scrolls demonstrate the manner in which Christian and Buddhist works can take intriguingly similar forms. Two rosaries are featured in the exhibition, one a 16th-century German example of intricately carved ivory beads in the shape of human skulls, the other a 19th- century Tibetan beads of 100 skull-shaped beads more abstractly and coarsely carved from human bone.

Created for the wall of a chapel in the Marienkirche in Lubeck, Germany, the Lubeck Dance of Death scroll is an eight-foot long engraving showing Death as the universal social equalizer. The engraving starts on the left showing the greatest ecclesiastical power on Earth, the Pope, headed toward Death, and goes all the way down to the farmer and peasant, a young boy, young maiden, and infant. The brightly colored Charnel Grounds scroll from 19th-century Tibet unfolds more than seven feet, depicting eight cemeteries and the faithful who go there to meditate. Because dead bodies are left out, not buried, in charnel grounds, there could be no starker reminder of mortality than the corpses, ogres, hungry ghosts, and zombies depicted here.

A Buddhist initiation card, ritual bone apron, painted skull hand drum, and shinbone trumpet are among other objects on view from Tibet, to be seen nearby such European artifacts as a pocket watch in the form of a silver skull, a silver gilt pendant in the shape of a coffin, containing a skeleton with a frog sitting on its chest, and a doctor’s walking stick with a skull-shaped knob.

For more about this exhibition, visit the Rubin Museum webpage by clicking here. Click on images to see much larger, more detailed versions. And thanks so much, Pam, for letting me know about this show!

Images, Top to bottom:

1. Skull Pocket Watch, Europe; 1701-1900; Silver model of a human skull which opens up to show a pocket watch inside inscribed with skull and cross bone; Silver; Science Museum, London
2. Lord of the Charnel Grounds; Tibet; ca early 19th century; Bronze, American Museum of Natural History
3. Tsagli (Initiation Cards); Tibet; Date?; Pigments on paper, Rubin Museum of Art

Proteus Gowanus and Morbid Anatomy Library Opening, Friday October 17th

Tomorrow night (Friday, October 17th) Proteus Gowanus Interdisciplinary Gallery and Reading Room is throwing an opening party for the launch of its new year-longinstallation "Mend," to which I have contributed some stuff and acted as "correspondent."

Also launching that night will be the "Morbid Anatomy Library," (see above) which is basically a collection of books, articles, ephemera, photographs and artifacts I have accumulated around the Morbid Anatomy project. The library will henceforth be open to the public (by appointment only) in a room right off the main gallery.

So, if you live in the New York Metropolitan area, and would like to drink wine surrounded by mangy stuffed squirrels, pathological hands and books, not to mention see some cool art, why not come by? If interested in paying a visit at another time than this opening, please email me at morbidanatomy@gmail.com.

I should also mention that I would like to organize some Morbid Anatomy events at this space in the future. If any readers have ideas of what kind of events they might like to see or participate in, please let me know here.

Hope to see you there!

Invitation below:

Proteus Gowanus
invites you to the opening reception for the
2008/2009 Interdisciplinary Exhibit

MEND

Friday, October 17th
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

“Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.” --Eugene O’Neill

In the spirit of renewal and repair, we launch the 2008/2009 exhibit, MEND, in the new Proteus Gowanus gallery space (same building, further down the alley).
At a time when “fixing things,” from the mundane to the profound, seems increasingly out of our reach, we will explore MEND through art, artifacts, objects, books, and related programs, encompassing a multiplicity of perspectives and disciplines, from mending a piece of fabric to solving global problems.

We introduce an expanded Proteus Gowanus Reading Room in the space adjacent to the gallery, including five ongoing archival projects: joining Anonima, Reanimation Library and the Museum of Matches are Blue Fire, an installation by Wendy Walker; the Hall of the Gowanus; and Joanna Ebenstein’s Morbid Anatomy Library.

The Mend exhibit and programs is co-curated by PG Founder/Creative Director Sasha Chavchavadze and our new PG Director Tammy Pittman.

Mend Correspondents are: Joanna Ebenstein, Janice Everett, Lydia Matthews, Herbert Pfostl and Martin Skoble.

Mend Contributors are: Ellen Banks-Feld, Jenny Bevill, Jen Bervin, Stephanie Broder-Lederman, Rosamond Casey, Sasha Chavchavadze, Libby Clarke, Ellen Driscoll, Laure Drogoul, Joanna Ebenstein, Janice Everett, Charles Goldman, Paula Hayes, Sophhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifie Herbert, Jeanne Liotta, Susan Newmark, Jim Nightlinger, Debra Pearlman, Pam Peterson, Herbert Pfostl, Chris Piazza, Tamara Pittman, Karla Roberts, Alan Rosner, Esther K. Smith, Andrea Spiros, Lance Rutledge, Naftali Beane Rutter, Sally Mara Sturman, Annette Taconnelli, Robert The, Wendy Walker, James Walsh, Matthew Wills, The Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives.

Check our workshop/events page in the coming weeks for a schedule of programs related to MEND.

Look forward to seeing you!

Proteus Gowanus
543 Union Street @ Nevins Street Gate
Brooklyn, NY 11215

http://proteusgowanus.com

Anatomical Mary, Damien Hirst

Another one from my friend Marie! Damien Hirst's "The Virgin Mother." Displayed in the courtyard of The Lever House, 390 Park Avenue (E 54th St), in midtown Manhattan. Full link here.