Squashed

So, I had some posts planned, but I have such a big pile of marking to do that they will just have to wait.

In the meantime, to assuage my need for grotesquerie, here is an informative video from that renowned medical specialist and purveyor of human curiosity: Dr Drew Pinsky.


(Might not be safe for work. Depending on where you work, of course...)





I love science.

Morbid Curiosities

If you have an interest in all things quirky and macabre, I highly recommend checking out The Midnight Archive. This unique Web series, created by Ronni Thomas, explores a variety of topics from mummification to music boxes.

Here are a few of my favourite episodes.














Last but not least, this entry in the series gives an intriguing look into the career of a real life Dr. Moreau.





Who knew these kinds of operations were being done in the 1960s? Dr. White sure was ahead of his time.

Ha!

Because he took the head and the... never mind.

Long story short: I love these and everyone should watch them. You can view The Midnight Archive videos on YouTube right here.

Deady Or Not, Here I Come

The WA museum is pretty great. I've been visiting with my family since I was very small (no entry fee plus bonus air conditioning made it our parents' favourite excursion), so many of the exhibits seem like old friends.

There have been various refurbishments over the years, but my favourites are still there: namely, the taxidermy zoo, skeleton collection, and an assortment of once-living things pickled in jars.

Yes my favourite things are all dead. It is a museum, after all.

















One of the best new additions is the huge dinosaur in the lobby, which was painstakingly created by museum staff.






For some reason I neglected to take a full body shot, so it's hard to see how big it really is. Too obsessed with the small details, as usual. I will go back sometime soon and take more pics. Or you can go see it yourself... if you dare!



My main reason for visiting was to catch the Extraordinary Stories exhibition before it finished today.


This exhibit features a variety of British Museum artifacts, from million-year-old tools to more contemporary Maori and Aboriginal art. The whole thing was fascinating. I didn't take many photographs as the light was kept dim to preserve the items, however there were a couple that caught my eye in particular.

Cristovao Canhavato's throne of weapons, for instance:




If you can make out the quote below, the artist explains that the smiley faces in the chair were actually incidental features of the guns themselves. Strange to find happy faces on killing machines.


The other piece that caught my eye was near the end of the exhibit (which was organised in chronological order): a treasure box made by the Haida people of the West Coast of Canada.



I especially like the origin story accompanying the box, which features a secretive old man, a shape shifting raven and a daring heist.



If you happen to live in Perth and haven't seen Extraordinary Stories yet, you have until 5pm this afternoon to rectify that situation. Hurry! A few more hours, then most of these goodies will be shipped back to the motherland.

Of course, there are always other things to look at in Perth. Like my friend the urban cactus:




Or... this:


Hmm.

Safe As Ever

The Onion's top news story of 2011:



So committed to grotesquing the news.

On The Barbie

[Via]

I used to work in the deli section of a large supermarket. It wasn't the most respected or highest paying job I've ever undertaken, but I did learn a lot about what Australians like to eat; particularly on special occasions like Christmas, the New Year, public holidays and weekends.

As today is Australia Day, I figured I should post in honour of the most popular things we ever sold on public holidays: dead crustaceans.

Here are a few of my favourite crusty composites from the Web.

[Via]

Lobster motorcycles by chef Huang Mingbo.

[Via]

[Via]

We came to dread Christmas Eve in the deli, because we knew our fingers and palms would be shredded by midday from shoveling handful after handful of raw prawns into plastic bags. The flimsy rubber gloves were too soft to prevent their spines puncturing our skin and sliding under our fingernails. You would have thought the blood would put off the customers but, like sharks, it only seemed to heighten their frenzy.

Anyway, here is a photo of me after a ten hour shift:

[Via]

Pretty! Also resembles Scott D. Wilson's Victorian lobster boy.


Humanity's seafood obsession has been going on for a while.

[Detail from ancient Roman mosaic. Excavated Pompeii, Naples. Via]

It has taken on more inexplicable forms in recent years, though...

[Starving Child Octopus Baby silk pillow. Via]

Not sure what's going on here, but I like it.

[Via]

Future film idea/title: The Girl with the Crab Hat.


Also this.

Really, how are those crabs blowing up the island? I guess you know you are in trouble when the giant crustaceans have "razor sharp claws that hand grenades and dynamite cannot stop."

Well that's enough for now. It's 5pm and 40C here in Perth, so I don't have the energy to collect any more sea folly.

Okay maybe one more.

[Go on, get yourself a prawn costume. You deserve it.]

The Slythy Toves

Between teaching and marking papers, I've recently been trawling through the Victoria and Albert Museum's online database. One particular artist who has caught my attention is Flemish Renaissance man Cornelis Floris de Vriendt (1514–1575).

[Print with grotesque figures from the series "Many variations of grottoes and compartments"
(1556) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

[Print with grotesque figures from the series "Many variations of grottoes and compartments"
(1556) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

I don't think I've looked at Floris on the blog before. Who knows why, because his work is spectacular. The museum explains that:

"Cornelis Floris was born in Antwerp but spent some time in Rome in the late 1530s when he would have been exposed to examples of Ancient Roman and Renaissance grotesque decoration. The grotesque style often featured fanciful creatures -part human, part plant. The prints of Cornelis Floris have been described as having a sinister quality about them. In this example the combination of the auricular (ear-like) quality of the framework and the presence of individual figures apparently held prisoner by it, does give an unsettling effect."

Floris' work can seem a bit sinister, although I think this might be because he tends to use sinuous lines which give a snake-like curve and flow to each element within the frame.

[Grotesque panel with the figure of Neptune (1557) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

[Print showing a ewer supported by a satyr with flower ornament and a sea-shell snout
(1548) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

Floris also worked on an incredible set of designs depicting 'grotesque masks.'

[Grotesque mask (1560) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

[Grotesque mask (1560) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

[Grotesque mask (1560) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

[Grotesque mask (1560) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

[Grotesque mask (1560) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

[Grotesque mask (1560) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

[Grotesque mask (1560) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

The merging of animal and vegetable, living and nonliving in these images makes them a fantastic example of the traditional grotesque style.

[Grotesque mask (1560) Cornelis Floris. Via]

[Grotesque mask (1560) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

This is one of my favourites. Can you see the lobster?

[Grotesque masks (1560) by Cornelis Floris. Via]

There is something so beautifully architectural about these faces, and it comes as no surprise that Floris' main occupation was as an architect and sculptor. In this capacity he designed the Antwerp Town Hall, which is very nice indeed.

[Via]

He also designed the grave for the King of Denmark and Norway, which illustrates his fame rather well. When an actual King wants his dead body encased in your work, you're doing it right.

[Via]

Should have a few more favourites to look at in the next few weeks. Also my very own copy of Thomas Wright's (1875) History of Caricature and of Grotesque in Literature and Art to show off. Might give it a glamorous photo shoot...

Don't Look Down

This video reminds me of the infamous forehead incident of 2010.

Slightly less daring, but I think we're all a little bit grateful for that.





Try getting that song out of your head. Just try.