All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise stated. I know it's not the most reputable of sources but it's always a good starting point and you can't go wrong with a good picture. This time I want to look specifically at skeletons and skulls.
As I mentioned in my last post, I'm thinking of working on a design featuring animals and daemons of ancient Egyptian folklore. I want to use realistic depictions of skeletons, stylised Egyptianising flora and possibly some fairly realistic studies of insects (particularly scarabs) and snakes. It's an idea I'm only just starting to properly shape, but it's developing.
Rogue taxidermy is the practice of creating fake "mythical" or hybrid animals by sewing and stuffing together the remains of two separate animals. These were (and still are) often exihibited at freak shows and other sideshows. Historically these were sometimes put together to dupe gullible members of the public, especially in times where education was vague and few people travelled. Today, rogue taxidermy is an art form, a sort of macabre kitsch.
A "stuffed" griffin from the Copenhagen Zoological Museum (via Wikipedia)
Famous examples include the Fiji mermaid, a grotesque combination of a monkey and a fish;
The skavader, a fictional Swedish creature, and the jackalope, a creature from North American folklore. Such hoaxes were very common, especially in the case of medieval monsters and mythical beasts, so much so that when the Australian platypus was first discovered, people assumed it was a stuffed fake.
Image of the Fiji Mermaid from Wikipedia, see link above
The term "rogue taxidermy" was invented by the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists, a group who specialise in artificial oddities. When they first exhibited, the New York Times ran a feature on their work, including Sarina Brewer's brilliant roadkill creation, the "Goth Griffin" (below)
Here's a selection from their 2010 exhibition, with more images from the show here.
A similar idea can be seen in the delicate and strangely appealing bone and metal creations of Jessica Joslin
There has been a lot of controversy about these pieces, however. Some taxidermists and audiences accuse the artist of not respecting the animals that are being used to create the pieces. However, since many artists, such as Sarina Brewer and Scott Bibus only use "found" animals (usually roadkill), I personally beleive there is greater respect for the animal than in conventional taxidermy, which often uses hunting trophies. Beyond that, I see a similarity with practices of indigenous peoples in North and South America and in ancient Egypt; using the remains of an animal to create pieces that are both beautiful and have deep spiritual or symbolic meaning. I strongly beleive that using otherwise "leftover" parts of animals shows is a fitting tribute to that creature.
I really enjoy this sort of work. Taxidermy has become a fairly common sight in fine art installations thanks to the work of artists like Damien Hirst and Polly Morgan, but I particularly respect the skill required to create a convincing rogue piece, as well as the dark humour of many such pieces. I'm considering adding an aspect of rogue taxidermy to my Egyptianising theme. Taxidermy and mummification, although practiced for different purposes, are fairly similar. Rogue taxidermy reminds me of the Egyptian mummies of animals such as hawks, rams and cats, which were often arranged to resemble the basic mummiform shape of a mummified person. Both practices are about preserving the dead and giving the corpse the sembulance of life.
I also like the idea of using rogue taxidermy to create mythical creatures, though the beasts typically created have Christian and Graeco-Roman subjects; it would be interesting to create a piece that references Egyptian daemons and deities, such as Ammut, but has the feel of rogue taxidermy.
In my motif project I drew heavily from ancient Egyptian art and burial practices, so for this project I need to develop those ideas. Here are some links to information and images from both modern and ancient Egyptian creatures.
The tomb chapel of Nebamun, an 18th dynasty accountant of Amun, was decorated with beautiful, incredibly detailed paintings, including one of the best examples of the typical hunting and fishing scenes. The detail of the birds' wings, the papyrus and lotus fronds and the markings of the cat were heavily influenced by the notorious Amarna period, which is characterised by stylised human forms and naturalistic flora and fauna.
Remember that link I posted to the Nazi design manual? I decided to try to make some repeat patterns using some of the images from the badges and pins illustrated in the manual. I wanted to go for a fairly conventional repeat to contrast with the dark source. Here are my first attempts.
For this design I wanted to create something that looked fairly traditional, inspired by the very ordered but very busy designs of Victorian wallpapers. I wanted to suggest that images are corruptible when used in a different context. The Nazi party themselves took traditional images and bent them to their purposes: the swastika is a pre-Christian good luck symbol (still used in some Buddhist and Hindu art but now out of use in the West for obvious reasons), the eagle motif was inspired by ancient Roman military symbols and so on. I wanted to take these motifs and turn them into something beautiful to subvert their source and to hint at the persuasiveness of the Nazi propaganda machine.
The leaves are from patches that would have been sewn onto the collar of an officer, the eagle is from a medal. I think the first pattern, with the vertical stripes, is more effective that the second; it was difficult to make the pattern feel balanced and ordered with the more random style. Although this design is slightly more disordered than I would like, the basic concept I was playing with here still shows: turning the very ordered, clean designs of the originals into something more fluid and organic. I wanted to suggest that over time these motifs could outgrow their source material and take on new meanings.
You may have gathered from some of my earlier posts on this blog that I love history. In the context of art, I'm very interested in what art and design meant to different cultures at different times. One period I'm eternally fascinated by is inter-war Germany; the stark contrast between the artistic freedom of the Weimar Republic, with it's subversive caberets and vibrant expressionist, and the very ordered design of the Nazi party, with it's clean lines and exquisite tailoring. I'm always amazed by Nazi art and design; I've always believed that the power of their propaganda, their stirring music and their elegant design was key to their rise to power.
So here's a fascinating link to a rare find: a graphic design "bible" produced by the Nazi party in 1936 (click the link on the page to download and view the full book). Complete with full colour illustrations of uniforms, badges and flags, along with masses of flow diagrams, town plans and all written in a beautiful Blackletter font. Of course it's in German, but even if you don't read German (and I certainly can't) it's very interesting if you're interested in uniforms, military fashion, or symbolism. Yes, it's a bit macabre but it's incredibly interesting.
I know this isn't really related to the flora and fauna brief we're working on at the moment, but it is textiles related and there are some plants and birds in the iconography. I'm very tempted to play around with a morbidly Nazi repeat pattern. We all have those "Springtime for Hitler" moments sometimes!
