Upcoming Exhibits

 

Savior of Mothers: The Forgotten Ballet of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis

Joanna Ebenstein – Morbid Anatomy Blog and Library

June 11 – September 5, 2012

Savior of Mothers: The Forgotten Ballet of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis is an installation of artifacts and ephemera related to an imaginary 19th century ballet created by artist Joanna Ebenstein. The ballet is based on the true story of the brilliant, yet reviled Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865). Scenes range from his earliest attempts to curb the "childbed fever" epidemic in his Viennese obstetrical clinic to his premature death of the very disease he had spent his life trying to defeat. Ebenstein was drawn to Semmelweis' distinctive story not only for its topical and scientific theme--albeit tinged by melodrama and mythic elements--but also for its mixture of beauty and the grotesque. His tale, best suited to the form of a popular tragedy, makes ballet the ideal medium for Semmelweis' tale. Ebenstein's installation includes costume designs for the "Plague Demons of Cadaverous Particles"--expressionistic representations of the virulent bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes itself--and the "12 mourning mothers from beyond the grave," as well as model theaters, posters, programs, and more.

Joanna Ebenstein is a New York-based multi-disciplinary artist and independent scholar with an academic background in intellectual history. She runs the popular Morbid Anatomy blog and the related open-to-the-public Morbid Anatomy Library, and is the founding member of the art/science gallery/lecture space Observatory. Her work centers around the interstices of art and science, death and culture, religion and spectacle, collectors and collecting, and the sublimation of pre-modern ways of thinking into the modern age. Recent exhibitions include Anatomical Theatre, a photo exhibition celebrating medical museums around the world; The Secret Museum, a photo exhibition exploring the poetics of hidden, untouched and curious collections; and her current exhibition The Great Coney Island Spectacularium, which explores turn of the 20th century Coney Island as the pinnacle of pre-cinematic immersive amusement.

Art Meets Science

Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc.

June 11 – September 5, 2012

This exhibit explores the unexpected intersection of two seemingly different disciplines, Art and Science. These 35 artworks focus upon inspiration from scientific theories or phenomena expressed in new and unexpected ways. They illustrate, with strikingly visual impact, a gamut of scientific ideas, from the harmonies of randomness to the dynamics produced by scientific imagery.

Cells: The Universe Inside

Maryland Science Center

September 22, 2012 – January 4, 2013

Journey into the microscopic world of cells
Did you know that trillions of cells are working together as you breathe, sleep, and think? Take a closer look at your cells and find out what is really happening every moment that you are alive. Throughout the exhibit you can meet scientists who are asking questions about cells and watch complex cell processes transformed into choreographed dances.

Exhibit highlights
Virtual experiments using gold particles and stem cells
Giant walk-in cell
Videos of cells in action
Cells and the miracle of life
Control a time lapse movie showing human fetal development. Use a magnifying glass to compare pig embryos to photos of a developing human embryo. Watch your arm move and muscle cells contract. Match a cell's shape to its job.

The world inside a cell
See models of a cell membrane, nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, and lysosome inside a giant cell. Fly inside a virtual cell on a huge screen. Make protein shapes with your shadow. Play a computer game to see how proteins are made inside the nucleus.

Cells and your health
Compare an osteoporotic bone to a healthy bone, a smoker's lungs and non-smoker's lungs, and a clogged artery to a healthy artery. Use a virtual scalpel to cut a planaria in half and watch it regenerate. Design a cancer fighting nanoparticle in a virtual lab. Get moving and see how exercise affects your body at the cellular level.

Cells: The Universe Inside Us was created and produced by the Maryland Science Center with funding from MetLife Foundation.