Scorpions!

This exhibit is for rent!

Download this Exhibit as a PDF brochure

The word “scorpion” often evokes fear. Although scorpions are abundant around the world, and encounters with humans are common, most people know very little about these remarkable creatures. This exhibit will present information about scorpions – their evolution, anatomy, family life, diet, and the truth about their venomous reputation – in addition to addressing scorpions in history and popular culture. Live scorpion specimens will be on display and a dark room will illuminate how scorpions fluoresce under a black light. Curated by Hi:Desert Nature Museum biologist Stefanie Ritter.

Please contact museum coordinator Stefanie Ritter for more information.

Scorpions: There goes the neighborhood

Maybe it’s just too hard to love the scorpion. Pity the little ones, though, who will never hear the gushing exclamation: “Oh, isn’t it cute!” No one will ever gush over the scorpion, it’s probably safe to say.

With all their alienness of joint, appendage and articulation, scorpions tend to repulse us, tend to give us the creeps. They share this recoil-making effect with the other members of their eight-legged tribe. Yet, scorpions gain an added portion of our repulsion with the curl of their tail and the venomous bulb at the end of it. We may not like spiders, but a goodly number of us absolutely loathe scorpions.

For more of this story, download the full artice (pdf)

Rental Fee Structure 1 – Full Exhibition with Artifacts and Dark Room

2 month rental $1,500 ($750 per month)

3 month rental $2,000 ($666 per month)

4 month rental $2,400 ($600 per month)

5 months or more $500 per month

Rental Fee Structure 2 – Text/Photo Panels Only

2 month rental $750 ($375 per month)

3 month rental $1,000 ($333 per month)

4 month rental $1,200 ($300 per month)

5 months or more $250 per month

Please contact museum coordinator Stefanie Ritter for more information.

Wednesday, September 21: I am very excited to report that I am collaborating with Professor Pieper and his Cultural Geography students at Copper Mountain College on “Eye of the Beholder!”  Once I began researching this vast subject I realized what a job I had set for myself, so I am sharing some of the research duties with the students.  It will be fascinating to hear their youthful perspective on the subjects of body art, body modification, plastic surgery, etc. and include some of their theories and findings in the exhibition.  I just discovered that the Annenburg Space for Photography in Los Angeles is currently displaying the “Beauty Culture” exhibit through November 27, so I will definitely be checking that show out.  It features 170 works by 100 fine art photographers to encourage a social discussion about the allure and mystique of the pursuit of female beauty, as well as its cult-like glorification and the multi-billion dollar industries that surround it.  This show has a focus on photography’s influence on the concepts of beauty and self, whereas “Eye of the Beholder” will be more anthropological and historical in its perspective, but it’s interesting to see that the discussion of beauty in our culture is spreading throughout the museum field.

Friday, August 19:   Today I’m reading about wigs – a fascinating topic!  Queen Elizabeth of England had famously worn a red wig during her reign, but wigs for men came into fashion at the French court of Louix XIV during the 17th century.  When he lost his own luxurious head of hair he adopted a fake one.  In this portrait we see a group of 17th century men sporting their impressive wigs.  Charles II introduced wigs to England in 1660 and they began a long series of stylistic changes.  The first wigs usually consisted of a mass of curls that framed the face.  Over the years they became larger and more elaborate.  Wigs were extremely expensive, so were an obvious indication of the wearer’s social standing.  A common street crime of the time was the theft of wigs     The wig was originally designed to be worn over a shaved head, so to be in style many men had their own hair sheared in favor of the faux hair.  Men who had no pretension to fashion continued to wear their own hair, but it was usually arranged to resemble the current preferred wig style.  Wigs were not only fashionable, but functional.  The lack of hygiene during this period of history resulted in people suffering regularly from head lice.  A shaved head and the wig were much easier to treat.  We think of wigs as being a passe fashion, but I would bet that most of the actors you see on television and in movies are wearing some amount of fake hair – whether wigs, clip-ins or extensions.  (Did you really think all those celebrities have a magnificent head of beautiful hair naturally?)   Some celebrities have built successful businesses on selling fake hair, such as Raquel Welch and her line of wigs.  It was always interesting to see if Sean Connery would wear a hairpiece, or go au naturale, for a movie role.  Hair plugs are what disturb me most…when their hair is in nice neat rows of little clumps.  But then that is why I titled this exhibit “Eye of the Beholder,” because what I consider unattractive is another person’s ideal of beauty.  Although there are certainly strong cultural motivators for the pursuit of beauty, our own personal taste continues to intervene and define us as individuals.

Friday, August 12:  Museum staff survived our Big Bug Blast Family Fun Day.  It overhwelmed our schedules for a while, but now life returns to normal and I will attempt to get on the blogging track once again.  I have begun reading through books on dress throughout history, since clothing is an important component of our culture’s ideal of beauty.  Choice of dress has always been affected by numerous influences – social and economic, artistic and technical – and of course the vagaries of individual taste.  400 years ago, the monarchy and aristocracy dictated fashion and the courts were the ultimate arena in which to exhibit fashionable dress.  As we see Kate Middleton’s every outfit analyzed and copied, perhaps the monarchy’s power to influence fashion is not as antiquated as we might think.  During the reign of Elizabeth I, Queen of England from 1558-1603, clothes were mandated to reflect the wearer’s class, rank and profession.  A series of 10 proclamations was issued that divided society into 9 groups, with Dukes and Earls at the top, and servingmen at the bottom.  This legislation sought to define exactly what fur, fabric and trimming could be worn by each rank, but enforcement was almost impossible.  Starch was introduced in 1564 and the aristocracy took to this new fashion tool with a vengeance.  Soon every part of a female dress was stiffened, creating an extremely unnatural shape, but it presented endless opportunities for embellishment and decoration, as we see in this portrait of Elizabeth I.  Our most blingy rappers and Hollywood divas couldn’t compete with the over-the-top fashions of the Renaissance. 

Tuesday, July 5
Today on the Yahoo News Highlights page was a story about Lady Gaga’s “Gagalicious” yoga outfit, and another about Beyonce’s hair trauma during a windy performance at the Macy’s 4th of July event. When yoga clothes and celebrity hairdos become top news stories, we have definitely proven the importance of beauty in our culture. This week I’m reading about the scarification practices in Africa. Scars, designed to enhance a person’s beauty, also indicates group identity and marks stages in a person’s life. Among the Nuba of Sudan a girl is scarred when she reaches puberty, and after she has had her first child. In the Yoruba culture of West Africa, scarification designs, called kolo, are made with a Y-shaped blade. They place short, shallow, and closely spaced cuts into which a dark pigment is inserted. Kolo is considered a test of a woman’s bravery. By bearing the pain of kolo, she shows that she is strong enough to endure childbirth. The Yoruba praise a woman covered with kolo, saying that she is courageous. Shown here is a photograph of a Yoruba woman decorated with kolo designs taken by Henry John Drewal in 1973. As an anthropologist I’m fascinated by perceptions of other cultures, but at the same time I’m a bit glad that I don’t have to prove my courage Yoruba-style.

Wednesday, June 29

I have learned that it’s very hard to find time for blogging during a busy work day. This will require devoting specific time on my calendar for this project or time gets away from me! I am currently working on an Art & Culture program relating to Ancient Egypt, which led me to investigating the early use of makeup in prehistoric times. During the time of the Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt, the use of cosmetics reached a level of sophistication that we still emulate today. Who can forget Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra with her dramatic eye makeup? Archaeologists have found powder containers, makeup brushes, polished silver or copper hand mirrors, and perfume bottles in Egyptian tombs, attesting to the fact that women have a long history with makeup. Mummy masks show the attention given to the eyes, which were lined with black kohl. But men also used powder and eye makeup in Ancient Egypt, so no one is immune to the desire to be more attractive. In addition to the beautifying aspects, Egyptian paintings indicate that makeup held religious importance. It was fashionable to have a light complexion, and large amounts of white lead were applied to the skin. The harmful effects of lead were not known at the time, so unfortunately I’m sure some Egyptians paid a high price for their pursuit of beauty.

Nefertiti (1370-1330 BC), a famous Egyptian Queen, has been referred to as the “most beautiful woman in the world.” She was the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, and she and her husband led a religious revolution in which they worshipped one god, making them the first monotheists in history. The Egyptians at the time were not pleased with this change and after the death of Akhenaten and Nefertiti they went back to the worship of many gods and goddesses. Nefertiti was made famous by her sculpture, now in Berlin’s Neues Museum, depicting her fine features.

Wednesday, June 15

I’m starting my research for the exhibit going back in time and looking at the earliest known body decorations.  For thousands of years body art has been used to express the cultural characteristics of a society.  The power of the artwork can be seen in the strong positive or negative reactions that they garner.  We all have an opinion on the subject!  Body decorations can be aesthetic or religious, sacred or profane.  The wearer’s age, sex and social status play a crucial role.  Also significant in my research is who decorates whom, how and why, and whether the process is voluntary or enforced.  People reveal much about themselves using body art as a way of conforming to their society or rebelling against it.  A recent survey showed that 1 out of 3 women would not leave the house without makeup, even to shop for groceries.  That is certainly a sign of the pressure our contemporary society puts on people to conform to the current cultural ideas of beauty.

The earliest body decorations were made with vegetable coloring and mineral pigments, such as ochre (red to yellow), manganese (black), and lime (white).  Skeletons laid on red ochre have been found in burials as far back as the Paleolithic period, when humans were hunters and gatherers.  As Neolithic man made the transition to an agriculture-based society, body painting became more refined.  Whether used to improve appearance, identify kinship connections, or for ritual purposes, examples of highly developed artistic expression survive from this period around the world. Shown here is “Horned Goddess,” reconstruction of a rock painting dated 7000-6000 BC.  The painting, found in Algeria, shows a dancing woman with dotted body decorations.

Wednesday, June 1

We all participate in the pursuit of beauty at some level or another – simply brushing our teeth, washing our hair, or dressing in clothes that will make us attractive to a mate are part of a cultural ritual.  What is the craziest thing you have ever done in your pursuit of beauty?  I have personally steered clear of tattooing, and not because of a distaste for the practice but because of my lack of commitment – I can’t think of any design I would want on my body every day for the rest of my life.  I know a dancer named Sharon Kihara who has two beautiful peacocks tattooed on her stomach (shown right).  If I was ever to take the plunge it would be for something similarly dramatic and colorful, not the barbed wire wrap around the arm some teens are sporting.  Until I get my commitment issues under control I will stick with temporary henna tattoos.  But there is no denying the fact that tattooing has transformed from a fringe practice to a popular cultural phenomenon.  As tattooing becomes mainstream it loses what some call the “conspicuous outrage” factor.  The tattoo is losing its power as a symbol of rebellion.  So what is next on the horizon of rebellious body alteration?  Lady Gaga recently appeared on Jay Leno with facial horns (see below).  It reminded me of a Star Trek character, although I can’t place the episode right now.  Although her horns are temporary, surgical horn implants have been done.  I can see that this exhibit can easily become a carnival side show, so I will need to keep my anthropological perspective and stay on point.

Tuesday, May 31

What is your idea of beauty?  Every year People magazine presents us with their list of the most beautiful people.  Jennifer Lopez and Zac Efron topped the list for 2011.  I hate to date myself by admitting this, but I have no idea who Zac Efron is, although I’ve heard the name.  I find it very suspicious that most of their choices are starring in a current television show or recently released movie.  By the next year they must have lost their looks because they disappear from the list, although I believe it has more to do with their drop in ratings then any change in their actual physical appearance.  In the recent television show, Bridalplasty, contestants submitted a list of the various plastic surgery procedures they wanted done before their wedding then competed each week to try and win a chance to go under the knife, or perhaps that liposuction vacuum machine.  Who comes up with these ideas?  But these extreme makeover shows certainly play to our human need to achieve our idea of ultimate beauty.  So who would you put on the magazine cover as the most beautiful person?

Monday, May 30th

Teens are the most challenging visitors to attract to a museum.  For most teens, if it’s not related to video games, smart phones or dating it’s not on their radar.  Therefore, we went to the source and asked the members of the Yucca Valley Youth Commission to give us ideas of programs and exhibits that would appeal to their peers.  An exhibit on tattoos was first and foremost on their list.  OK, so as a curator I need to take that idea and make it fit within the museum’s educational mission.  Since my background is in anthropology I decided to expand the exhibit scope past strictly tattooing and explore humankind’s relentless preoccupation with physical appearance, researching the wildly divergent ideals of human beauty throughout history and across the globe.  Thus the exhibit, “Eye of the Beholder: Beauty and Culture,” was born.  It is scheduled to open on January 7, 2012.  For the next 7 months I will be researching this fascinating subject in preparation of developing this exhibit.  I began my investigation by purchasing a number of anthropology books on the art and culture of beauty.  The pictures represent subjects from scarification and tattooing to foot and head binding and lip plugs.  Needless to say, these books have attracted a lot of attention around the office.  Although I have railed against blogging since I first heard the word, I wanted to share my journey with you as I delve into the quest for human beauty and the startling lengths people will go to feel more attractive and make a statement about themselves.

Below is an African man with a lip plug, or labret, which in some areas of Africa remains in fashion to this day.  Since he is packin’ heat I wouldn’t mess with him, but no matter that your idea of attractive may differ from his, we can still agree that his iPod is a thing of beauty.