The Culture of Preservation. The afterlife of specimens between art and science since the eighteenth century

研究背景准备好的标本以多种形式出现：染色和固定的组织切片，保存在甲醛中的畸形或典型的器官，保存在玻璃罐中，与腌制食品没有什么不同，或者巧妙地安排填充动物。它们可能在好奇的橱柜里，在组织学家的实验室里，在解剖学剧院或自然历史收藏中找到，但现在同样在艺术画廊和时尚精品店的橱窗里。该项目涉及此类保存的自然物体，特别是自十八世纪以来的解剖学湿制品和动物标本。科学的物质文化研究是近二十年来科学史和科学人类学中一个蓬勃发展的领域。最近，科学物品和图像也成为艺术和视觉文化历史学家的兴趣。该网络将进一步探讨这些问题，从美学和文化意义的角度考虑科学物品。它还将考虑自二十世纪初以来艺术家在呼吁人们关注自然历史博物馆及其物品的美学和政治方面所发挥的作用。该网络是与几个博物馆和收藏品合作的，特别是伦敦大学学院动物学和医学收藏格兰特博物馆;和自然历史博物馆。目的和目标该研究网络采取跨学科的方法，旨在促进动物学家，标本剥制师，解剖学家，保护者，来自不同人文学科的策展人和学者以及艺术家。它将进一步了解准备好的标本从生物体到教学对象，收藏品或艺术品的转变，以及这些东西在展示和处理，保存，重新安排或暴露给新观众时所涉及的过程。这些讨论应导致在理解科学物体方面形成一个跨学科的议程。目的是创造性地思考如何展示准备好的标本，特别是敏感材料，这意味着解决人类遗骸展示中涉及的伦理问题。该研究网络的目标是延长赠款的期限，其中一项议程是概述一个适当的主题展览。潜在的应用和好处该网络将首次提供一个多学科的方法来研究准备好的标本，它们的历史和材料特性。受益者将特别是：-科学历史学家将受益于对准备好的标本的美学和文化维度的视野的拓宽。艺术或文化历史学家以及艺术家将受益于准备好的标本，因为这些对象挑战传统的代表性概念。该项目将开辟艺术史研究和艺术实践的新领域，从而丰富这些学科。博物馆，博物馆学家和策展人将受益于人类遗骸展示的伦理含义和展示科学物品的新形式的讨论。独立的保护者或动物标本剥制师是该项目的潜在非学术受益者。如何处理短暂的有机物质的问题不仅限于科学对象领域：艺术家们越来越多地使用有机材料，保护（注定）腐烂的艺术作品已经成为博物馆，私人画廊和艺术市场最紧迫的问题之一。

Context of the researchPrepared specimens appear in many guises: as stained and fixed tissue slices, as monstrous or typical organs preserved in formaldehyde and kept in glass jars not unlike pickled food, or as skilfully arranged stuffed animals. They may be found in cabinets of curiosities, in the laboratories of histologists, in anatomy theatres or in natural history collections, but nowadays equally in art galleries and the shop windows of fashionable boutiques. This project is concerned with such kinds of preserved natural objects, in particular with anatomical wet preparations and taxidermy since the eighteenth century. It will consider the hybrid status of these objects between nature and representation, art and science.Research on the material culture of science has been a thriving field in the history and anthropology of science for the past two decades. Recently scientific objects and images have also become of interest for historians of art and visual culture. The network will take these issues further by considering scientific objects with regards to their aesthetics and to their cultural significance. It will also consider the role artists played since the beginning of the twentieth century in calling attention to the aesthetics and politics of natural history museums and their objects.The network is a collaboration with several museum and collections, in particular The UCL Grant Museum for Zoology and medical collections; The Hunterian Museum, London; and The Museum of Natural History.Aims and objectivesThe research network takes a cross-disciplinary approach and aims to advance the exchange between zoologists, taxidermists, anatomical preparators, conservators, curators and scholars from various disciplines of the humanities as well as with artists. It will further the understanding of the transformation prepared specimens undergo from living organism to didactic object, collectible item or artwork, and of the processes these things are involved in as they are displayed and handled, conserved, re-arranged, or exposed to new audiences. These discussions shall lead to an interdisciplinary agenda in the understanding of scientific objects. The objective is to creatively think about ways of how to exhibit prepared specimens, in particularly sensitive materials, which means to address the ethical issues involved in the display of human remains. The research network aims to extend beyond the life of the grant and one of the agendas is to outline a proper exhibition on the topic.Potential applications and benefitsThe network will, for the first time, provide a multidisciplinary approach to prepared specimens, their history and material idiosyncrasies.Beneficiaries will be in particular:- Historians of science will benefit from the broadening of the perspective towards the aesthetic and cultural dimension of prepared specimens.- Art or cultural historians as well as artists will benefit from the engagement with prepared specimens as these objects challenge traditional notions of representation. The project will open a new field of art historical research and artistic practices, it will thus enrich these disciplines in general.- Museums, museologists and curators will benefit from the discussion of the ethical implications of the display of human remains and of new forms of exhibiting scientific objects.- Independent conservators or taxidermists are among the potential non-academic beneficiaries of the project. The question of how to deal with ephemeral organic substances is not limited to the field of scientific objects: Artists have been increasingly working with organic materials, and the preservation of art works that (were meant to) decay has become one of the most pressing questions also for museums, private galleries and the art market at large.