Muses,
The following announcement might be of interest to some of our little
group. Happy trails, David
David Haynes [log in to unmask]
San Antonio
--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sara Schechner <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask],
[log in to unmask],
"Sundial Mail List" <[log in to unmask]>,
History of Astronomy Discussion Group <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 11:55:46 -0500
Subject: [rete] Exhibition extended: "Bringing Nature Inside"
Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]>
Hi,
Our exhibition by guest artist, Rosamond Purcell, has been extended by
popular demand until June 10th. Here are short and long versions of the
announcement for listing purposes and information. I am attaching an
image
from the exhibition as well. We would love for your paper to list this
event in your calendar or cover it.
Any questions, please give me a call.
Sara
Sara Schechner, Ph.D.
David P. Wheatland Curator
Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments
Department of the History of Science
Harvard University, Science Center 251c
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617-496-9542
Fax: 617-496-5932
=========================================================
Harvard University
Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments
"Bringing Nature Inside" examines natural history, classification, early
museums, and the authority of vision and experience in the 17th
century. Working from the celebrated frontispiece and catalogue of
Worm's
Museum, or the History of Very Rare Things, Natural and Artificial,
Domestic and Exotic, Which Are Stored in the Author's House in Copenhagen
(1655), Rosamond Purcell, has reconstructed the private museum of a
Danish
professor of medicine, Ole Worm (1588-1654), by using natural history
specimens and ethnographic objects borrowed from collections at Harvard
and
elsewhere in the United States. In recreating Worm's world, Purcell, an
installation artist, and Sara Schechner, a historian of science and the
exhibition curator, explore not only the place of Worm's cabinet among
other early museums and the ways he organized his collection, but also
the
issues that arose in representing nature through the sense of
sight. (through June 10, 2005)
Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Special Exhibition
Gallery, Science Center, Room 251, 1 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138.
(617-495-2779) Open: Monday - Friday, 11 am - 4 pm. Closed on
University
holidays. Admission Free.
=========================================================
Where can you go to see an extinct auk next to a camera obscura...the
conjoined skulls of a two-headed sheep...an anamorphic mirror...a chair
made of a whale vertebrae...a plant giving birth to a vegetable
lamb....plus wondrous optical instruments, picture stones, insects,
narwhal
tusks, poisons, fossils, harpoons, and rhino horns?
******Exhibition Announcement*****
Bringing Nature Inside
17th Century Natural History, Classification, and Vision
Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments
Department of the History of Science, Harvard University
Special Exhibition Gallery
Science Center, Room 251
1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-2779
Guest Artist:
Rosamond W. Purcell
Curator:
Sara J. Schechner, Ph.D
The David P. Wheatland Curator of the
Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments
Dates:
through June 10, 2005
Hours:
Monday - Friday, 11-4
closed on University holidays
Working from the celebrated frontispiece and catalogue of Worm's Museum,
or
the History of Very Rare Things, Natural and Artificial, Domestic and
Exotic, Which Are Stored in the Author's House in Copenhagen (1655),
Rosamond Purcell, has recreated the private museum of a Danish professor
of
medicine, Ole Worm (1588-1654), by using natural history specimens and
ethnographic objects borrowed from collections at Harvard and elsewhere
in
the United States. In recreating Worm's world, Purcell, an installation
artist, and Sara Schechner, a historian of science, explore not only the
place of Worm's cabinet among other early museums and the ways he
organized
his collection, but also the issues that arose in representing nature
through the sense of sight.
As we move from the engraving to the reconstructed room, we are
confronted
immediately with these questions: How many layers are between us and the
room? Can we peel this box back--as in an anatomy dissection--to see the
bones and organs of the collection and their relationships to each
other? Are we really seeing the thing in itself or just an artistic
representation of it? Are the specimens drawn as archetypes or
individuals? How do the monstrous and anomalous fit in?
These questions were relevant to Worm and his contemporaries, too.
One distinguishing characteristic of early modern science was the
emphasis
on learning through the observation of Nature–through empiricism and
experiment–and not just through the study of texts. Worm firmly believed
that vision was the most trustworthy sense for natural history
investigations. He assembled his museum collection as a resource for
teaching.
The 17th century was also an age of new optical instruments that enhanced
or skewed vision. Lenses, mirrors, telescopes, microscopes, and prisms
were
heralded as aids to vision and tools to analyze and dissect the world,
but
others accused them of distorting Nature and creating optical
tricks. These instruments brought new worlds into view, gathered
information, fragmented it, reassembled it, and dispersed it. Drawing
instruments and engravings improved the transcription and sharing of
visual
information.
This exhibition looks at the work of Worm and other naturalists in this
age
of vision and optical instruments. It asks what was the authority of
vision, and what impact did this have on the classification of things and
understanding of Nature.
In exploring these themes, the exhibition juxtaposes many kinds of
material
culture used by early modern scientists. These include scientific
instruments, natural history specimens, ethnographic objects, rare books,
and prints.
[The recreation of Olaus Worm’s collection was originally part of the
exhibition Rosamond Purcell: Two Rooms, organized by the Santa Monica
Museum of Art and curator Lisa Melandri.]
=========================================================
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