Lessons from the Book of Secrets, 2007
Wood, glass, etched copper, found tintypes, bronze, bones, and pigments
The diptych Lessons From the Book of Secrets is part of Martha Glowacki’s series of dioramas referencing Victorian shadowboxes and 19th century natural history museum display practices. The shadow-box on the left features two reconstructed skeletons of mice, each one climbing up a tiny wooden staircase, past a hanging tintype photograph of an adolescent boy, and towards the circular mirror situated at the top of the steps. Several disembodied bones lay scattered on the floor below. On copper sheet, the artist etched a passage of text from a 19th century manual for boys, detailing the tools necessary to preserve taxidermy specimens. In the right half of the diptych, a tintype of a young woman, along with a fabricated bouquet of wilting tulips, sits atop a miniature table. Fallen flower petals rest on the floor, while a deserted wasp nest clings to the top left corner of the piece. The text in this diorama, borrowed from The Temple of Flora by Robert John Thornton, describes the ideal physical characteristics of the Auricula flower.
Much of Glowacki’s art deals with the history of collecting and classifying the natural world, from public museum exhibitions to private cabinets of curiosities. Many of these themes stem from the Enlightenment, during which the study of nature served the dual purpose of scientific edification and religious reinforcement. This diptych refers to taxidermy and botany, both of which were popular 19th century activities, again reflecting a growth of interest in natural history. And, while taxidermy was deemed offensive to feminine sensibilities, botany was culturally sanctioned as a fashionable woman’s pursuit. Thus, by classifying these activities into “proper” categories, Glowacki makes a larger statement about the stereotyping of gender roles.
