natural selection part two...
the counterpoint to the colorful surrealist models below were the circa 1900 artifacts of nature also dwelling the plant life section of the bergen natural history museum, pictured above. unfortunately between the low light, wavy old glass cases, and the depth of the shelves i wasn't able to get great images; but these early photos, hand written or hand typed scraps of paper labels, and fragments of real nature forms mounted on wood or paper, were like little poem objects.
they weren't like seeing joseph cornell's work as much as they were like peeking into one or two of his boxes of stuff. all were fragile, many were broken, discolored, and/or simply odd in terms of their display forms.
i just kept thinking that between the stuffed animals, the giant sculpted life size whale heart, the birds, the room of skeletons, etc. these little twigs and seeds felt totally quiet and alone.
if you like looking at things like this you should also regularly check out the wonderful woolgathersome blog...
Labels: bergen, flowers, joseph cornell, natural history museum, science, trees
3 Comments:
very nice (quality of light), looks like you had a great time.
is there going to be a cd?
The items in both these posts are incredible!! Somehow simultaneously connected to botany, phantasy (science fiction), and pure poetry...
And they look as if they were placed in these cases 100 years ago, which perhaps they were...
Reminds me of a shop I visited in Glasgow once - rare books in the front, and a special room in the back devoted to pressed seaweed from ages ago - all dusty and marvellous!
are there even shops any more with special rooms in the back... that sounds amazing! indeed these were relatively dusty and i even took some pictures of some areas that had just a shelf with an oddly cut piece of paper on it with some typing... there was definitely a feeling like this whole thing would be revamped over the next 5 years or so...
Post a Comment
<< Home