Classic toy…mildly menacing…
The glowing soul of an industrial plant…
One of those days.
Fire retardant shorts? Not doing a very good job, it seems.
Take THAT, Lady Gaga…you’re not the first to dress in meat.
And here we have the inspiration for The Human Centipede; the worst sculpture in the known universe.
Awesome.
I give you heart shaped whale anatomy…for future use on your handmade valentines.
Welcoming, indeed.
And I leave you with this sage advice:
I hate to bid goodbye to the Ryan Matthew theme week because it’s been a blast, but I suppose all good things must come to and end.
Behold this recent creation: a human skull sliced into six sections, mounted on handmade metal fixtures.
The adjustable sections fan out from a central point, and the corresponding split mandible rests on its own stand below.
Apparently the human skull, when cut, produces a staggering amount of dust (coveted by certain collectors…nothing goes to waste).
The remarkable cross sections allow one to view the inner and outer structure of the cranial bones. I love looking at the spatial relationships, varying density, and tiny nuances that (most of us) rarely fixate upon. Like the exploded skulls, these would make phenomenal educational tools.
I see a great deal of potential in this technique, for personal and professional purposes. There was even brief talk of constructing models that incorporate soft tissue specimens (I might have audibly squealed with delight at the idea…I hope not).
This piece is currently under glass, in the center of Ryan’s dining room table…a perfect spot, and fabulous dinner company.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Ryan, he’s not likely to rest on his osteological laurels. His focus, dedication and skills are are highly commendable. I have no doubt that we can expect countless incredible undertakings in the months and years to come.
Brilliant work, all around. It’s been an honor.
(Photos by Sergio Royzen)
Something fans of Oddities may not know is that Ryan Matthew is also one of the owners of Against Nature, a lower east side atelier that specializes in bespoke suits.
From the website:
Inspiration is culled from a wide range of sources, yielding a distinctly contemporary collection that nonetheless recalls the fine craftsmanship, attention to detail, and sartorial elegance of an earlier epoch.
For those wondering where Ryan gets his amazing suits…now you know.
While most contemporary clothing is mass produced on factory machines, Against Nature offers the opportunity to step back into a bygone age when clothing was custom tailored with choice fabric and impeccably measured to the exact specifications of the customer.
The store offers a wide variety of the finest quality imported material, and each suit is entirely hand crafted with multiple fittings over a one to two month period to ensure perfect construction.
Ryan crafts the perfect accessories (Victorian sensibility with a bit of edge) for suits of this caliber: rings, cufflinks, tie bars, stick pins, money clips, belts, bracelets.
No, they are not all skulls and bones…I just happen to like these…
Commissioning a suit from Against Nature is undoubtedly an experience of luxury- far from the common off-the-rack perusals where nothing seems to fit quite right.
See and learn more about this unique venture on the following sites:
Against Nature homepage
Doyle Mueser (designers)
Ryan Matthew (click “shop” for jewelry selections)
No coverage of Ryan Matthew would be complete without mention of The Science Channel’s Oddities, the reality/documentary series based on Obscura Antiques (previously covered here).
Oddities chronicles some of the acquisitions, sales, custom projects, product hunts and colorful characters that comprise a day in the life of the Obscura team (Mike Zohn, Evan Michelson, Ryan Matthew).
I’m delighted that this program brings attention to one of my favorite places of all time, and sheds light on the captivating alternatives to decorating one’s home in department store standards.
Here’s a clip that actually shows some of Ryan’s cat skull/skeleton work, which I posted about yesterday.
Season 2 just wrapped, but you can still catch the episodes on the Science Channel.
See a bunch of clips, TV schedule and more info here.
Years ago I came across a mesmerizing photo of a disarticulated human skull, cleaned and mounted on display with jointed movable parts. A little something like this:
All I could find was that French anatomist Claude Beauchene, inspired by the work of Leonardo Da Vinci, developed this presentation method in the mid 1800’s. There was precious little information about the process, and very few examples.
Ryan Matthew has resurrected this technique and fine tuned its execution with multiple species. Beauchene would be proud.
Here we have an “exploded” human skull:
Believe it or not, there is no bone cutting involved in this process. The skull is fully disarticulated, using a method of internal expansion. The adjustable metal fixtures are handmade as well.
A baboon version:
And a cat…
Having seen these skulls up close, I must say that the detail and construction are stunning. The lack of cutting ensures that each bone fragment maintains its natural shape and integrity. These models would be fantastic educational resources.
I wonder if exploded skulls will take off as a way to memorialize dearly departed pets. At the very least, I think they will make their way into the personal collections of oddity connoisseurs worldwide.
If you want to commission one, look no further than Ryan himself.
I’m finally setting up an Etsy and/or Artfire portfolio. Before I do, I want to offer a few discounted items I had on hand (in just one particular style) to my wonderful blog readers.
Pardon the awful snapshots. They look much better in person! And they’re only $12 each unless otherwise specified (5 for $50).
B-Movie Posters (requests for others granted):
1) Attack of the Giant Leeches (1 1/2″ X 1″)
2) The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (1 1/2″ X 1″)
3) The Screaming Skull (1 1/2″ X 1″)
4) Jail Bait (1 1/2″ X 1″)
Vintage Spookshow Posters:
1) Francisco’s Big Midnite Spook Frolic (1 1/2″ X 1 1/8″)
2) Alliance Stage Spooks (1 3/8″ X 1″)
3) Halloween Midnite Show (1 1/4″ X 1 1/8″)
4) Midnite Spook Show (1 1/8″ X 1 1/8″)
5) Midnite Jinx Show (1 1/8″ X 1 1/8″)
Misc Vintage:
1) Antique Ouija Board (1 1/2″ X 1″)
2) Sea Life Wunderkammer (1 1/2″ X 1″)
3) Hand of Fate Fortune Telling Game (1 1/8″ X 1 1/8″)
4) Albini Magic Show Poster (1 3/8″ X 1″)
5) Femmebot (1 1/4″ X 1 1/4″)
6) Insectodeath antique poison label (1″ X 1 1/4″)
Vintage Film:
1) Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1″ X 1″)
2) Metropolis (1″ X 1″)
3) The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (1″ X 1″)
4) Twilight Zone Mystic Seer (1 1/8″ X 1 1/8″)
5) Skeleton Dance (closeup) (1″ X 1″)
6) Skeleton Dance (four smiles) (1 1/2″ X 1/2″)
Antique Anatomical Illustration:
1) Bird Skeleton (1 1/2″ X 1 1/8″)
2) Hand (1 1/2″ X 3/4″) Sale- $10
3) Brain (1 1/8″ X 1 1/8″)
4) Skull (1″ X 1″)
5) Heart (1 1/8″ X 6/8″) Sale $10
Geekery:
1) Quantum physics on chalkboard (1 1/8″ X 1 1/8″)
2) TV test pattern (1 1/8″ X 1 1/8″)
3) Hubble image: spiral galaxy (1″ X 1″)
4) Hubble image: nebula (1″ X 1″)
5) Mirror neurons (1 1/4″ X 1 1/4″)
Misc kitsch:
1) Kitschy kitty (1 1/2″ X 1″)
2) Shrimp TV dinner (1 1/8″ X 6/8″)
3) Turkey TV dinner (1 1/8″ X 3/4″)
4) Cassette (customizable label) ((1 1/2″ X 6/8″)
Retro Japanese Kaiju (only $8 each):
(Please specify preference for image 1-7) All (1 1/2″ X 1/2″)
Please contact me to place an order or request a custom design. You name it…I can make it. Feel free to spread the word!
Shipping is $2 for the first item, $1 for each additional item (max $5). I take paypal, check or money order.
It took a rare specimen (pun absolutely intended) to make me consider dedicating a theme week to an individual rather than a concept. I found such inspiration in self-taught artisan, jeweler, collector, TV personality and master of osteological works Ryan Matthew, who was kind enough to give me a tour of his personal collections.
His home is more of an experience than a standard place of residence. More finely curated than the vast majority of museums I’ve visited, each room is saturated with rare artifacts from bygone days: skulls, articulated skeletons, pickled specimens, taxidermy, metal work, antiquated devices…a collection too vast to be cataloged or justly represented in a mere blog post.
Ryan has transformed his Brooklyn apartment into a wonderland of glass-domed treats, flora and fauna. With remarkable ambition and dedication to his craft, he has created a veritable oddities empire.
I personally feel very much at home surrounded by the rich history of human remains and ephemera. These objects are the time keepers of our ingenuity and foibles. Every surface was adorned with fascinating creations, brilliant artistry, milestones of medical and cultural evolution, misguided inventions, and unfortunate accidents of birth. Every item tells a story, and many of them also carry colorful anecdotes of acquisition (never a dull moment when dead things are one’s trade!).
The myriad skulls in the collection possess various anomalies: interesting ossifications, deformities, etc. These are not the bleached, pristine craniums of med school lectures. These beauties have character.
Well, every piece has character.
This colorful baby doe reminds me very much of Iori Tomita’s work.
What home decor would be complete without a giant jar of human teeth?
Perhaps it’s just the way my warped mind works, but I think this piece would be fantastic in an ad for headache medicine.
Owls have always been one of my favorite creatures…
This baboon gentleman is now poised in front of a human skull under glass, gazing upon it in contemplation; an utterly perfect tableau.
The back room contains a number of curiosity cabinets, all fully stocked and beautifully arranged. It was impossible to take it all in at once, and I rapidly developed a kind of Oddities Attention Deficit Disorder due to the delightful overwhelm. These displays require extensive exploration.
One closeup:
I really wish I had more detailed photos of that room and cabinet contents. I could get lost in them for at least a few weeks…or until someone dragged me away and reminded me to eat and sleep.
Getting the tour…
I was lucky enough to to have two wonderful photographers capture these images for me. Many thanks to the lovely Sara Gage (whom I look forward to working with and posting about in the future) and Sergio Royzen (still life virtuoso!).
Check out Ryan Matthew’s website. We have so much more to cover this week…
I really appreciate retro pinup photography and art. A recent post on UFunk featured some classic pinup illustrations and the photos that inspired them.
Despite my own all-too-fragile bony frame, I believe women look better with soft curves.
It’s actually quite amazing to see how little artistic liberty was taken with the figures. Nowadays, nary an image of a woman makes its way into public distribution if she hasn’t been digitally whittled, chopped, airbrushed and remade into something not entirely human.
Although these paintings are far from photorealistic (particularly in the faces), at least the models were honored for the beauty of their natural bodies.
Beautiful…
I just added Scott Carney’s The Red Market to my already expansive book wish list. As a soft-hearted cynic, I should probably know better than to immerse myself in this text…but my fascination with human behavior and anatomy wins out.
An in-depth report that takes readers on a shocking tour through a macabre global underworld where organs, bones, and live people are bought and sold on the red market
Investigative journalist Scott Carney has spent five years on the ground tracing the lucrative and deeply secretive trade in human bodies and body parts—a vast hidden economy known as the “red market.” From the horrifying to the ridiculous, he discovers its varied forms: an Indian village nicknamed “Kidneyvakkam” because most of its residents have sold their kidneys for cash; unscrupulous grave robbers who steal human bones from cemeteries, morgues, and funeral pyres for anatomical skeletons used in Western medical schools and labs; an ancient temple that makes money selling the hair of its devotees to wig makers in America—to the tune of $6 million annually.
This is bound to be an interesting journey.
Are you ready for the most exhaustive antique account of cat anatomy I’ve come across?
I give you The Cat: An Introduction to the Study of Backboned Animals, Especially Mammals.
How great is that title?
See scans of the entire text here.
I can guarantee it’s better than some of the more modern literary cat fare (sorry “Dr.”):
SheWalksSoftly 