FIELD MUSEUM PROJECT
SUMMARY
(Natural History in Public)
Proposal 1
Name of Project Members
Tridactic –Magritte Emanuel Nankin
Unifying Biological
Concept /Theme – What is the biological
concept around which you will organize your wunderkammer?
Discuss a little bit how you plan to use
the concept to connect and synthezie objects and aspects of the museum in an
interesting, novel, informative, and potentially eye-opening way for visitors?
I will be presenting Gynandromorphy (an
organism that exhibits both Sexual dimorphic Phenotypes,
specific to a species or subspecies) in the form of artificial (animals that do
not exist) and representational (animals that do exist) study skins, animal
remains and or anthropological manipulations of these animals significant to
the artificial or representational culture. This classified aria,
Gynandromorphy, or the in-between will be utilized as a forum to address issues
of sex, gender and sexuality symbolism, in a human context. I wish to build
conversation about the gendering, sexing and sexualizing of color texture thus
challenge norms associated with these subjects. By selecting 3-4 fictional and
or non-fictional animals or remints they’re of. In taxonomic display I will
give historical narratives relating to the Sexual dimorphic Phenotypes
of the animals chosen as the history of acquiring of the objects.
Rationale for this
Concept /Theme – Why are you interested
in this theme? Why is this a meaningful natural history supplement to a museum
experience? What will a museum goer learn / experience / think about that they
wouldn’t otherwise? (100-200 words)
From a personal experience of
struggling to articulate and understand my own gender, sex and sexuality. In
the depths of my struggle I sought validation
in the form of examples and information on the subject .As of a few weeks ago I
had never heard of Gynandromorphy. In thinking about it if I had had been introduced to concept
Gynandromorphy at an earlier stage in my life I may have found some symbolic or
relatable security in the existence of this phenomena. Gynandromorphy was presented to me
through the museum and through the museum significantly expanding my understanding
of self. In visiting the field museum I feel that in some way all visitors look
for symbols “other ” but a place to look at the history of human interpretation
and understanding of the world around us. In my project I wish to emphasize
this quality of the museum by focusing on the museum as tool to discuss current
and personal sex,
gender and sexuality issues.
Media format of the
project – What are the components
in terms of text, diagrams, audio, video, etc. that you will likely use and
why? How will this be accessible to the
general public?
-
Examples
of Gynandromorphy
in physical form- sculptural
-
Examples
of Sexual dimorphic Phenotypes in physical form- sculptural
Presenting
physical examples validates the object and presents a form of trooth absent in
both drawings and photographs. Ideally incorporated into the museum in the form
of display. The project could function as a workshop/tour and or permanent display.
Possible, specific
items or components to include in your wunderkammer
(so far)
Hides
Animals
ReplyDeleteHi Magritte,
I think this could be a very interesting topic, but how many examples are there in the museum for you to discuss at this point?
It will be important to have a firm biological understanding of what gynandromorphy and it causes if you are going to do this project. Make sure your background research on this is solid and you can distinguish, for example, the potential differences between gynandromorphy , intersexism, and hermaphroditism and the like. Talking about a mixed sex form in an insect and in a mammal are not biologically the exact same thing!
And so my interest is how you will help the museum-goer understand the basics biology of sex-determination and intersex cases so that you can explore the broader cultural and symbolic themes you are interested in. This will involve a substantial amount of work, so do you r research and if you have questions along the way, let me know, but I will expect you to have a good handle on the basic biology.
As for format, the project needs a stable form that is publicly accessible. I are thinking then an audio tour - downloadable in mp3 format?
You should also read Evolution's Rainbow by Joan Roughgarden for background on this topic.
FYI, I have done some research in this area re: insects:
http://www.andrewyang.com/folder2/ant%20mutants(YangAbouheif).pdf
best
ay
This assignment was late. This kept you from getting any feedback on it from others.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting approach. Not many viewers go into the museum expecting anything to relate to themselves personally. Looking to nature as a form of self exploration is important, and many people objectify the taxidermy and displays, giving it not much more thought than how attractive they are.
ReplyDeleteI think the cultural aspect will be really important to your project, because exploring a culture that is historically more open to the conversation of sexuality and gender is always fascinating.
Maybe a "radiolab" or "this american life"-esque presentation would be interestiing, because it would give you an opportunity to interview/talk with people at the museum and present to people their feedback. Interviewing and asking people that work there would be a valuable experience, regardless of your presentation type. It could be a real exploration of the staff and what they have to offer on the subject.
Really cool. excited to see it.
Kaycee