Speaking of wunderkammern, MoMA has an intriguing show opening on July 30th called Wunderkammer: A Century of Curiosities. The description sounds pretty heavenly:
"Wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosities, arose in mid-sixteenth-century Europe as repositories for all manner of wondrous and exotic objects. In essence these collections—combining specimens, diagrams, and illustrations from many disciplines; marking the intersection of science and superstition; and drawing on natural, manmade, and artificial worlds—can be seen as the precursors to museums. This exhibition presents a contemporary interpretation of the traditional cabinet of curiosities, bringing together a diverse selection of works by twentieth- and twenty-first-century artists who have likewise felt the pull of unusual and extraordinary objects and phenomena. The works on display include prints, books, multiples, drawings, and photographs, with subjects ranging from architectural marvels and blueprints for impossible machines to oddities from the animal, vegetable, and mineral worlds. Featured artists include Hans Bellmer, Peter Blake, Louise Bourgeois, Max Ernst, and Damien Hirst, among others."
It will be up until November 10th. I'm looking forward to seeing it as you can imagine, though I hope they don't institutionalize this fascinating topic too much.
I really really really like your blog!
Posted by: christie | July 14, 2008 at 02:12 PM
The fact that MoMA, one of the leading museums in art, is paying atention to "our" cabinets of curiosities gives me a great feeling.
As you can see i’m having my one blog: http://frumingelo.blogspot.com/ Its about everything people wonder about, with a strong focus on the various catagories of items you can find in old cabinets. I’ts a bit like your blog but with a frumingelo-twist (and in Dutch)! maybe you want to place a link to my blog on yours?
greetings,
Frumingelo
Posted by: Frumingelo | July 16, 2008 at 07:08 AM
Mine too
denonwunderkammer.blogspot.com
Posted by: Denon Wunderk | January 09, 2009 at 01:09 PM
Marvelous! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Pam | January 12, 2009 at 12:27 AM