Eyes

So, the glass eyes I ordered arrived and they aren't too relevant to what I want to make anymore. Neither are they proper taxidermist eyes, so I don't think I'm going to use them for anything on this brief. Maybe they'll come in handy one day in the future..... who knows.

How To Skin a Deer....

This is a lovely video of an American man explaining and showing us how to skin a deer head....

Crit Suggestions....

I just had my first and last Visual Language interim crit before Christmas, and found it quite a good opportunity to hear myself discussing my ideas outloud, and narrowing down more of what it is exactly that I would like to do. I explained that there's a couple of takes I have on taxidermy, and am unsure of which one to follow. Firstly, the ethics of taxidermy, and secondly the actual process of creating the taxidermy. Christian suggested that i try and get hold of some glass eyes as a starting point, and possibly some faux furs, fabrics or other animal bits, that I can use as a starting point to play around with. With these materials I may then stitch and stuff and re-arrange to create odd looking creatures which i can then draw from and photograph.

Nick suggested I even attempt to create a new world or idea of what an animal is by re-creating animals in different ways. realistically I would love to get my hands on real animal and learn how to taxidermy, therefore I am aiming to befriend a taxidermist locally, but until then this will have to do. I have just ordered some glass bird eyes from ebay.co.uk.

"I can sit in that room and reminisce about past hunts.''

I found this quote from a successful taxidermist who lives in North Hollywood. I will never understand how 'the hunt' of an animal can be thrilling. It is pointless and unnecessarily cruel:

If a picture is worth a thousand words A picture is worth a thousand words is a proverb that refers to the idea that complex stories can be told with just a single still image, or that an image may be more influential than a substantial amount of text. A mounted animal speaks volumes. At least to its owner.

What better way to preserve the memory of a gratifying hunt than to bring the trophy head into your home?

``I've got 58 animals in one room,'' said Frank Carlisi, owner of Art Craft Taxidermy taxidermy in North Hollywood, ``and I can remember every hunt in which the animal was taken. I can sit in that room and reminisce about past hunts.''

(found on http://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+RIGHT+STUFFING+:+ART+OF+TAXIDERMY+OFFERS+HUNTERS+A+DIFFERENT...-a084000220)

I also quite liked to hear this headline: MOUNTING WOES; THERE WAS A TIME WHEN VALLEY TAXIDERMISTS HANDLED DOZENS OF ANIMALS EACH WEEK. NOW, WITH THE ADVENT OF STRICTER HUNTING RULES, THE LIFE IS GOING OUT OF THEIR BUSINESS.

Should I be experimenting more with other ideas?

So, I've done something that I regularly do with briefs. Come up with an idea or theme I'm really keen on using right at the start, and not experimenting with others. I know that some people would tell me that it's better to explore a variety of ideas, but I am really focused on taxidermy because not only does it give me a number of ideas for the content of my book, it is also a subject I'm interested in finding more about and therefore will encourage me to spend a lot of time on.

Is Taxidermy Inhumane?

I've been attempting research in to the ethics of taxidermy; is it mainly done using the bodies of roadkill and animals killed of other natural causes, or is there a sport for killing them simply to taxidermy. I don't know how to feel about it otherwise, as I am obviously against killing animals for sport.

However, it all seems to be very underground in terms of taxidermists explaining how they go about getting their animal bodies. I have emailed a few taxidermists in Leeds and requested a meeting with them to find out more and hopefully have a look at their individual works.

Here's one of the emails I have to sent to a professional taxidermist in Leeds. I'm still waiting for a reply...

Leeds Museum Visit 2: Taxidermy

Leeds Museum has a good selection of taxidermy in their Life on Earth section.








Below is a carved elephant tusk on loan from HM Revenue and Customs. People make decorations from tusks and rind rhino horns for medicine. Although this isn't in theme with the rest of the stuffed animals I've been posting, I still find the bone structure and anatomy on an animal very interesting. I think it's inhumane and cruel to kill elephants and other animals for their tusks or any other part of the body that will be simply used for decoration.

Leeds Museum Visit

Yesterday afternoon I went along to Leeds Museum, mainly to see the taxidermy they have there, but also paid a visit to their room of various collections and collectors. They had examples of hisorical collections in cabinets and glass cases. Thing such as a series of books, writings and illustrations done by the Leeds Savage Club; a group of artists, musicians, writers and journalists which formed in 1898 and disbanded in 1912. They held informal meetings with North American 'Indian' themes and were known as pow-wows, presided over by a 'chief' in full head dress. Many of Leeds leading artists belonged to this club at some point. The photos below are of the large collection of ephemera connected with the club.



This photo is of a collection of Jamaican artifacts collected from around the times that the slave trade existed. I guess this shows how important collecting can be to back up and teach us lessons about history, and important events and times.









These are photos from the ancient Egyptian exhibition at the museum. They show how writing evolved and developed and are an important collection of visuals that prove how something so crucial to our every day life came about.