Museums

Origins and Insights: The Exhibition

The Maine Sunday Telegram published an "Audience Section" critique of the new Bates exhibition. It follows: Sunday, June 25, 2006 Artists hope viewers let imaginations run wild By BOB KEYES, Portland Press Herald Writer LEWISTON — The female rears back, teeth clenched, arms ready to attack. She’s frightening, fierce and ferocious. But there’s something anatomically wrong. Instead of strong legs that would suggest her ability to spring, she sports fins and a tail. She is, after all, a mermaid. The creation of Minnesota artist Sarina Brewer, the "Feejee Mermaid" stands – or is it more appropriately, swims? – as one [...]

“Cryptozoology: Out of Time Place Scale” Opens

After four years of discussions and planning, Bates College Museum of Art opens its doors for the exhibition entitled “Cryptozoology: Out of Time Place Scale.” Early reviews are extremely positive, and one of the first write-ups is in Absolute Arts. Three themes are traced through art projects and essays in the exhibition and book: Artists, Adventurers, Environmentalists; History of Science, Taxonomy, Dioramas, Museum Display; and Pop Culture, Myth, Spectacle, and Fraud. Featured artists include Rachel Berwick, Sarina Brewer, Walmor Correa, Mark Dion, Sean Foley, Joan Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera, Ellen Lesperance, Robert Marbury, Jill Miller, Vik Muniz, Jeanine Oleson, Rosamond [...]

Orang Pendek in Maine

Delivered today, for inclusion in the Bates College exhibition, "Cryptozoology: Out of Time Place Scale," the Adam Davies-Andrew Sanderson-obtained Orang Pendek original cast, from September 2001. During their next expedition, they were recorded on the National Geographic Channel’s documentary, Is It Real?: Ape-Man, Episode 14, Season 2, which first aired Monday, February 27, 2006. Please click on the image for a larger version of the photograph. The description of the program asked: Does the Orang Pendek — a.k.a. the "Little Man of Sumatra" — really exist? Those who insist they have seen it describe a three-foot-tall ape-like creature that walks [...]

Homo floresiensis Supporter’s Challenge

One of the arguments from the Homo floresiensis debunkers (such as from Dr. Jacob pictured here) has been that the little-people are merely representatives of the local people and/or microcephalics in the local population. Here’s a new challenge from Peter Brown, shown photographing Homo floresiensis (LB1) below, who speaks directly to these critics, via Cryptomundo: "For those wanting to know more about modern people on Flores, Teku Jacob has a number of mesolithic skeletons from Liang Bua (excavated more than 20 years ago) in his laboratory. You would think that if modern humans on Flores had the same features as [...]