Taxidermy is considered a highly controversial practice in modern times – even more so in the face of the Anthropocene and the rapidly declining biodiversity. Nevertheless, it is still performed and constitutes an important element of museum exhibitions and private collections. In the contemporary People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, taxidermy functions both as an exhibit, which by preserving animal corporeality serves different purposes, from cognitive to political, and as a commodity – an exclusive and expensive craft closely related to animal symbolism in Chinese culture. The aim of this article is to study taxidermies as exhibits and commodities, and propose their interpretations both in the space of the museum and the market. The unfolding analysis refers not only to contemporary Chinese culture and the perspective of the Anthropocene, but is also put in a broader context of taxidermy and its role in the ‘museum of the Anthropocene’. The proposed approaches serve the purpose of both understanding the role and position of taxidermy in China and Taiwan, and deconstructing the anthropocentric perspective of interpretation while focusing on the history of species and individual specimens as ‘undead’ testimonies of rapid changes taking place in the human age.
Between 1964 and 1967, at the end of his illustrious career, Alfred Hitchcock experienced an extraordinary moment of creative renaissance. Inspired by the dynamism and innovativeness of European cinema, he decided to reach for the subject and creative means that were ahead of his time. Unfortunately, one of the potential masterpieces of contemporary cinema has been hailed too radical, shocking and even repulsive to be made. This article is an attempt to reconstruct the intricate fate of the Kaleidoscope, the last of the unfinished film projects of Alfred Hitchcock. The existing materials and available sources have been analyzed and systematized in order to find an answer to a number of research questions, and in the end to try to find an answer to the most important one: why a project so meticulously prepared, and in many ways visionary has become an “unfinished work”? Moreover, within the scope of attainable facts an attempt has been made to reconstruct the motivations and the main stylistic and narrative motifs of the film. The potential relations between this project and the director’s earlier works, Psycho (1960) as well as later Frenzy (1972), have also been examined.
The postulated arrival of the “Anthropocene era” and the “end of nature” widely discussed in humanities, as well as theoretical approaches such as nature-culture and techno-nature associated with this concept, open the door to redefining concepts such as “life”, “machine” or “biology”. This is visible both in the field of natural sciences, and transdisciplinary approaches such as synthetic biology as well as in experimental art. The purpose of this text is to look at the complex problem of “living machines” and “synthetic life” in the context of the speculative and critical potential of art and the postulated Anthropocene era in the works of Alexandra D. Ginsberg. The main problem is reflection on the vision of the role of “live machines” and “synthetic life” in the era of uncertainty and uncontrolled changes in the environment.
PL
Postulowane nadejście „epoki antropocenu” oraz szeroko dyskutowany w humanistyce „koniec natury”, a także wiążące się z tą koncepcją podejścia teoretyczne takie jak naturo-kultura i techno-natura otwierają pole do redefinicji pojęć: „życie”, „maszyna” czy „biologia”. Widoczne jest to zarówno na gruncie nauk przyrodniczych w podejściach transdyscyplinarnych takich jak tzw. syntetyczna biologia, jak i w sztuce eksperymentalnej. Celem tego tekstu jest przyjrzenie się złożonemu problemowi „żywych maszyn” i „syntetycznego życia” w kontekście spekulatywnego i krytycznego potencjału sztuki i postulowanej epoki antropocenu w pracach Alexandry D. Ginsberg. Głównym problemem jest namysł nad wizją roli „żywych maszyn” i „syntetycznego życia” w epoce niepewności i niekontrolowanych zmian środowiska.
The peculiar “museum boom” in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) attracts much attention from Western researchers. This phenomenon is undoubtedly linked to the cultural shift towards national and cultural heritage promoted by the authorities, which in turn is an important element of the nationalist political ideology. This policy is becoming more and more important in the last three decades of the reform and opening-up period. Museums, like the concept of a “nation” and the nationalist ideology, came to China from the West at about the same time and in a similar political and intellectual context, which meant that the museums quickly became entangled in politics and propaganda. This situation, strengthened even further in the communist period, led to the creation of a very specific form of state-controlled museology. Nowadays, museums and associated thematic parks play a key role in the strategy of developing the culture of the Chinese government, the project of “management and social order.” In this context, these institutions form part of an important mission entrusted to them by the party — the mission of building a new cultural and historical narrative serving the needs of the “new China.” The mission of various types of museums in contemporary China is shaped by overlapping political, economic, ideological and even moral dimensions. It is an important element of the soft power of modern China, which is also an important global symbol of China, attracting millions of foreign tourists a year. In this dimension, the museum’s mission is significantly expanded, it becomes a tool for building an international position and prestige. The aim of the article was to look at the history of Chinese museums in the 20th century in the context of continuity and changeability of the missionary dimension of their functioning, and to conduct a critical analysis of this missionary dimension in the unique conditions of “capitalism with Chinese characteristics” in the contemporary PRC.
В своих публикациях Эрик Баратай требует, чтобы история людей дополнялась историей животных, он переходит на их сторону и пытается освободить историю от ее единственной антропоцентрической перспективы. Животные не способны говорить на человеческом языке и документировать свой опыт, чтобы создать великую историю животных. Вместо этого у них есть друзья-люди. Поэтому косвенным средством достижения поставленной Баратаем цели могут быть рассказы о животных, их биографии, включенные в личные записи людей. В статье представлены истории о свиньях, записанные в воспоминаниях Антонины Жабиньской, Дороты Суминьской и Сай Монтгомери, которые внесли свой вклад в историю животных.
EN
In his writings, Éric Baratay advances that the chronicles of people should be supplemented with animal histories as he stands by the side of non-human animals and supports attempts to free history from its solely anthropocentric perspective. Animals are not capable of speaking any human language, they cannot record their experiences in writing / words, which makes them unable to create the great animal history. However, they have human friends. Therefore, the indirect approach, meeting to the goal intended by Baratay halfway, may rely on the stories about animals, their biographies written in the personal notes. The article presents the stories of pigs recorded in the autobiographies and memoirs of Antonina Żabińska, Dorota Sumińska, and Sy Montgomery, which are contributions to the history of animals.
PL
Eric Baratay w swoich publikacjach upomina się o uzupełnienie dziejów ludzi historią zwierząt, przechodzi na ich stronę i próbuje uwolnić historię od jej wyłącznie antropocentrycznego widzenia. Zwierzęta nie posługują się ludzkim językiem, nie potrafią zapisać swoich doświadczeń, by tworzyć wielką historię zwierząt. Mają za to ludzkich przyjaciół. Zabiegiem pośrednim umożliwiającym osiągnięcie wytyczonego przez Barataya celu mogą być opowieści o zwierzętach, ich zapisane biografie w osobistych notatkach ludzi. W artykule zapisane we wspomnieniach Antoniny Żabińskiej, Doroty Sumińskiej i Sy Montgomery historie świnek, tworzące przyczynek do historii zwierząt.
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