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Story by
objecked
Published on July 15, 2009 in This Handmade Life |
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(music by Boolar, The Give, animation by JuliaPott)
Walking into RISD's Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab is an awe-inspiring experience. From the images that I had seen online, I was somewhat prepared for what to expect when I went to shoot this video, but like many that enter the Nature Lab for the first time, I did not anticipate being able to open the cupboards myself, and pull out anything I wanted to look at. The visceral experience of touching a lobster claw that is larger than your own arm is truly a profound thing.
Click on the image above for more of my photos from the shoot.
A Brief History of the Nature Lab
In 1922, Edna W. Lawrence began a long career teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she eventually founded the Nature Lab in 1937. After graduating in the class of 1920, Ms. Lawrence had traveled the world and drew people in their natural surroundings from the West Indies to the Mediterranean. Edna returned to RISD as a drawing instructor and the Nature Lab grew organically in the room where Edna taught students to draw from specimens of the natural world. The Nature Lab flourished with the help of her personal additions to the collection as well as the contributions of the student body, faculty, and staff that amassed during her almost forty years of teaching in that room. Since then it has grown to fill the better part of the Waterman Building, which was RISD's first schoolhouse building.
Upon Edna's retirement in 1974, RISD found it appropriate to hire successors — in the form of curators — of the Nature Lab. Ms. Lawrence's position, after a string of marine biologists, is now held by Karen Idoine, an Agricultural Entomologist. Karen, who thinks of herself as a general naturalist above all else, has held the post for 15 years, and she estimates that, while the official number hovers around 85,000, there are probably over 100,000 specimens in the Nature Lab. Karen is aided by two assistants, Abigail Karp and Rachel Atlas, as well as a host of student aids who keep the Nature Lab ship shape.
All in all, There's *really* No Place Like Here, so, should you find yourself in Providence, Rhode Island, keep in mind that the Nature Lab accepts weekday visitors by appointment.
While you may not have time to collect over 85,000 specimens, or have room for 10 full size skeletons, much less a mounted moose head, you can still enjoy the antiquated aesthetic that hybridizes biology and art. Check out some of these items to give your space that Nature Lab feel. Similar to the taxonomy of the Nature Lab, I've organized the items here into the 5 Kingdoms of Life as described by Robert Whittaker, for your scientific pleasure.
The Kingdom Anamalia
Personally, my favorite line from the video is when Karen exclaims, "...so that people understand that insects are animals, and that spiders are not insects, just that sort of thing." Yup, we're animals, people, and so are the red wiggler worms that wiggle around in the dirt all day. Our DNA structure is only marginally different, which is why we are said to belong to the same Kingdom.
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1906 Mammoth And Deer Skeletons From SurrenderDorothy, $14.89. |
Unmatched Octopus Tentacle Earrings By OctopusMe, $75. |
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By nouveaumotley, $50. |
By piddix, $3. |
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By LondonsGate, $29. |
By dsbrennan, $30. |
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Handmade bracelet with insects By bayly, $45. |
Realistic ceramic miner human skull By mudpuppy, $60. |
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By tomfowlks, $25. |
By lovedtodeath, $495. |
I have been fascinated by the concept of Wunderkammers, or Cabinets of Wonder, since I was in college. Popularized during the Renaissance, Wunderkammers were dedicated to the collection of things found in nature and often, things *not* actually found in nature. Cabinets of Wonder were really more museums than cabinets, and were in part inspired simultaneously by the popularization of the surviving works of the Ancient Greeks, the expansion of the mercantile industry and the ruling class gift exchange, and finally the fruits brought to bear in the colonization of the New World and the many wonders found therein.
The Nature Lab is very much reminiscent of such a place, but with the twist that even though all the objects are coveted, they are exclusively available for artistic inspiration and interpretation. The Nature Lab also contains some specimens that bend the rules of nature a little bit: for example, a lizard with bat wings and a raccoon with a zipper pouch for a stomach. However, this is all but a part of the imagination inspired by the Nature Lab and just as much an element as the fruit flies and the cockroaches.
The look and feel of the Wunderkammer is alive and well here on Etsy too, in fact there is even a Cabinet of Curiosities street team dedicated solely to the preservation of all things curiouser and curiouser.
The Kingdom Plantæ
Successor to Aristotle, Theophrastus ought to be personally thanked for his surviving works Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants, which are in part responsible for some of the grand traditions of observing, recording, preserving, and using as medicine, the plants found in our natural world. There are many specimens of plants throughout Etsy, so you could think of it as an Herbarium in the Cloud.
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By swallowfield, $18. |
By DearDodo, $15. |
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Roots Photo Blank Greeting Card By Fitzgeraldpowers, $2.50. |
By doodlebirdie, $16. |
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Colorful cactuses and birds print By joojoo, $20. |
Drop Leaf Ceramic Necklace in Green By surly, $18. |
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By eyeful, $30. |
Life Forms Spring (11x14 print) By madebykim, $20. |
Ulisse Aldrovandi was an Italian naturalist with a special interest in philosophy and logic. In 1595, Aldrovandi said this of his collection:
"Today in my microcosm, you can see more than 18,000 different things, among which 7,000 in fifteen volumes, dried and pasted, 3,000 of which I had painted as if alive ('al vivo'). The rest — animals terrestrial, aerial and aquatic, and other subterranean things such as earths, petrified sap, stones, marbles, rocks, and metals — amount to as many pieces again. I have had paintings made of a further 5,000 natural objects — such as plants, various sorts of animals and stones — some of which have been made into wood cuts. These can be seen in fourteen cupboards, which I call the Pinacotheca. I also have sixty-six armoires, divided into 4,500 pigeonholes, fruits, gums, and other very beautiful things from the Indies, marked with their names, so that they can be found." (Quoted in Merchants and Marvels, a collection of essays edited by Pamela H. Smith and Paula Findlen)
Is Aldrovandi suggesting here that the artistic renditions of specimens are as important as the actual objects themselves? Is art as a formal study of biology and the natural world in fact just as vital to the total catalog of things as nature itself?
The Kingdom Fungi
Mysterious, sometimes adorable, sometimes disgusting, the fungus is among us. Some say their spores can travel through space and transcend time, while others say they are delicious on pizza. While we typically think of fungus as mushrooms, when we see a mushroom or cluster of mushrooms, the actual vegetative heart of the fungus is often a network of mycelium that can span for miles underground. Fungus is an important part of the life-cycle of plants. For example, the mycelium feeds on the nitrogen found in the lignin in solid woods helping the fiber, which would otherwise resist the breakdown, decompose back into soil (with the help of some bugs and worms from the Animal Kingdom I suppose.)
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By LittleSparrowNest, $65. |
By thebrickkiln, $15. |
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By sushipot, $15. |
By MarthaLand, $5. |
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By beadstyle, $15. |
By Greenbriar, $42. |
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By tabidesigns, $15. |
Vintage Magic Mushroom Coffee Mug By SofaCityVintage, $5. |
The Kingdom Protista
Think of Protista as many kinds of seaweed. Seaweed is often confused with plants; however, much of it has a different type of cellular structure. Some seaweeds are only one cell thick, while others have a colonial structure, and others still are multicellular. (That does not mean that they have two cell phones!) My favorite phylum from this kingdom are called Zoomastigophora, namely because it has the word zoom in it, but some people call them Zooflagellates, a name I tend to find a little degrading.
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By AlgaNet, $10. |
Seaweed/Coral British Illustration By petitepaperie, $2.95. |
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By bizarregalah, $25. |
By delesseria, $45. |
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By johnwgolden, $20. |
By bbusbyarts, $1500. |
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Interstice bracelet (white or black) By nervoussystem, $75. |
By giia, $55. |
The Kingdom Monera
I blame the soap and hygiene advertisements (not you, Etsy Soapers) for giving bacteria a bad reputation. Some say that there are so many normal "good" bacteria that exist in our intestines that they make up a majority of the cells in our entire body. Bacteria can be both good and bad; it can make you sick, or it can make dinner for members of the Protista Kingdom. (Heck, it can even make dinner for us, the animals!) People have been using bacteria to help preserve food products for centuries, just ask my old pal Louis Pasteur.
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ultimate silver matrix ball bracelet By discomedusa, $450. |
Colony - Original Oil Painting By OrbisOrbis, $120. |
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By organicadia, $18. |
The red and green pod collection By JennSki, $78. |
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Science Bacteria - Upcycled Magnets By PigseyArt, $7.50. |
By animalgam, $25. |
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By AlloverArt, $14. |
Lovesick ACEO Original Collage By dadadreams, $6. |
Do you have a special place to suggest for Etsy's There's No Place Like Here series? Tell us in the comments below. You can also add photos of your beautiful space (studio, home, or boutique) or suggest photos to us through our There's No Place Like Here flickr pool.
Watch other Etsy Videos | Visit our Natural History Gift Guide
100 comments Login to add your own!
mudpuppy
Wow, what an AMAZING collection! Thank you for including my human skull! Now off to investigate the other finds and watch your video! xo ~M
papermode
Working at the nature lab was my first job!!! sigh...I miss RISD....
Kitcameo
i have always wanted to go to RISD! Never had the bawls to apply tho...
AmaliaVersaci
heidiburton
Oh I love this kinda stuff, especially Ernst Haeckel's illustrations of radiolaria and siphonophora. Artforms in Nature is a great book! I'm really impressed by what Etsians have to offer here and taking it that step further, such as the Unicellular Textile. Great article :)
ParadiseBodyShop
vanessamoore
KOALACaddie
This article is a masterpiece. Kudos to Eric Beug. Bayly's bracelet with insects is beautiful. I'm an hour from RISD and the Nature Lab is now on my "bucket list."
girltuesdayjewelry
GORGEOUS ITEMS! Wow-- the octopus tentacle earrings are amazing!
foamywader
citizenhudson
WOW! Amazing article, video, and collection!! Look at all that neat stuff!! This is truly an Eric Beug masterpiece!
daniellexo
Katlandia
Wow! Great video and great picks. There is so much to look at! The Interstice bracelet is my favorite.
zwzzy
Reminds me of the California Academy Of Sciences that I love so much! Great article!
beautifulbridget
ladylavona
Awesome! Be sure to check out Etsy's Cabinet of Curiosities Team! Purveyors of wonderful, whimsical, odd, and obscure delights have assembled to create a virtual Wunderkammer!
BululuStudio
bijougirldesigns
This is so interesting to me. Thanks for a great article - and fantastic finds!
thebestvintage
VixVintage
sweetbabu
beachhouseblues
PoorRobot
lovelygifts
BPyarns
mypreciousstudio
this was my FAVORITE place to be while studying at RISD!
ericawalker
love, love, love this! fascinating video, and such great etsy picks- thanks.
editionbw
The stunning esthetic that is das Wunderkammer! Wunderschon!
Awesome collection and stunning pics on flikr...
dsbrennan
Awesome article - I've been to the RISD Nature Lab and it is indeed something to behold!
1AEON
odiliafu
MagnoliaFern
This is so creepy and weird and cool at the same time, more articles like this please!
BeadinBabe
capitalcitycrafts
TigerVintage
madebykim
LondonsGate
No way! Thanks so much for including my Snake Vial necklace!
Awesome article! Extremely informative and great picks as well!
sean11
RageoftheAge
Tina669
BROOKLYNrehab
wow i *wish* my school had a nature lab. amazing article!!!
i just reposted my pigeon feather souvenir in honor of Wunderkammers.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?...
InvisibleFountain
Greenbriar
Very interesting article! Thank you so much for including my Wild Mushrooms Moss Terrarium!
belovedbaglady
lilithsapothecary
OctopusMe
Awesome article! Much Gratitude for the Octopus Love! (O)(o)(O)(O)(O)! ~ OctopusME!
steinschmuckdesign
gooddaystudio
what an amazing place. If I went to school there I am sure this would be my favorite spot. Just the little bit you get to see in the video is so inspiring!
evihan
AlgaNet
HibouCards
wow! This is such a cool, repelling/attractive subject! I love weird things like this :)
Definitely not for everybody but brilliant!
Thanks for such cool picks! The taxidermy diorama is so amazing!
MinceCo
Grandiloquent
PuzzleBoBuzzles
Wow. That video was fascinating. Thanks for introducing me to that amazing place. I love your selections to go with it.
JAdamsDesigns
What a cool article!! And what an Awesome collection!! Very good one!!!
thestapeliacompany
I love everything about this! Oh! And there is a Cabinet of Curiosities team here on Etsy for items of this sort:
http://team.etsy.com/viewteam.php?id=411
alexkeller
reminds me of zoology class.
and my husband - don't worry - he works in a hospital
tldgrainwear
objetpetita
Wonderful video. Always love the Audobon prints. My Mom went to RISD will have to go check out!
babook
Wooooooooo , As you saying awe-inspiring that true !
my shop http://www.babook.etsy.com/ JOYING : )
LisaFerinDesigns
discomedusa
what a wonderful and inspiring post! i definitely need to get to the nature lab in person one of these days! the hollow ball bracelet of mine that you featured in kingdom monera (*thank you*!) was inspired by the similarly awesome hall of evolution at the museum of natural history in nyc.
shopgoodgrace
Whoa! FanTAStical post!! (very Alice in Wonderland... the Tim Burton version. Can't wait!)
mtraub
weirdwolf
Epic video and post Eric! Nicely done. I want my apartment to look like the Nature Lab, minus the cockroaches and fruit flies.
dadadreams
Ooh...I would love to visit the Nature Lab. Thanks so much for including my collage!
mermaidclaire
What an excellent vid, Beug!! I want to go to there. Wonder if it's creepy for the live animals to be surrounded by dead ones?
FirstLove
LOVED this piece!! Have taken my 11 yr old DS there several times since he was 4 -often wondered about his memories of being at the amazing Nature Lab at such a young age returning to him when he is older :)
PrimaryRedux
um....Wow! what a poignant reminder of the past, present, and future environment. those kids at RISD are lucky eh? As a former art student and teacher I am amazed at the treasure and opportunity of object and study that exists in RISD's Nature lab.
As a nature lover I think the message of this place speaks to the unique-ness, fragility, power and value of the natural world that still remains on this planet. thank you for this piece.
GollyBard
I'm all agog! Love natural history museums, collections. They are endlessly fascinating!
Moooi
aaahh i'm starting @ RISD in the fall and this video just got me even more excited. thanks!!
PipocaHandmade
What a wonderful and intriguing article...Thanks for sharing this!
ButtensBoutique
Schmutzerland
in the words of Liz Lemon,
" I want to go to there."
enough said! Absolutely amazing!
sandihester
This was some serious eye candy! As an artist I would give anything to have something like that go to! I'm going to do some research and see if any of the local universities has anything remotely similar. Anyone know of anything in Nashville like this?
PawPawsWorkshop
polkadotHOME
brun
linguaNigra
That was an amazing article. I live for things like this. I take yearly trips to the Mutter Museum in Philly, but now I might have to trek to RI for this.
Amazing!
edmdesigns
Absolutely gorgeous creations and extremely inspiring.
Love seeing the cutting edge of creativity in action.
Thank you so much for sharing this incredible posting, showcase and video.
nativevermont
I went to RISD and used to love getting inspiration from the nature lab. I'm glad to see that it's getting some good press.
quenchmetalworks
Ah, the Nature Lab! For a moment I was 19 again with charcoal smeared on my clothes and hands, sketching in that wonderful space. A priceless collection indeed. Thank you for tapping into the vibrant RISD community.
anagrampress
Oh, Nature Lab, how I love thee! Now that RISD is an increasingly distant memory, I can't get over how much I miss having that kind of resource right at my fingertips. I've never found a substitute—not even close. Thanks for featuring the Nature Lab!
paramountvintage
redsofa
iLuvKOSHi
OctopusMe is such a cool/original seller & I am such a sucker for any one of the sellers that do those lil moss terrariums.
curiocab
That was the most amazing thing ever. Regretting deeply not ever applying to RISD. Can the general public visit too? I'm now dreaming of butterflies, beetles and monkey skulls.
thewonderlandstudio
Thanks for such a great article! I have such fond memories of the nature lab, being a Risd grad myself, and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that you are sharing it's total awesomeness with everyone!
angeldogdesigns
boygirlparty
AquaMarineQueen
That makes me nostalgic for those wonderful days at RISD!
ChicHandmades
This was great to see! Definitely remember many long hours in the nature lab!!!
SleepDreamPlay
It makes me want to go the Natural History museum asap!
What a fantastic place.
themefragrance
OwlandMouse
petitepaperie
Beautiful and interesting article. Thanks for including my seaweed collage - it looks so grand with the others! Thanks for your hard work.
heartloop
Beautiful video & love your collections as well.
Wanted to make you aware that we posted your video on our education blog:
tsschock
All your talents shine in this article. I'm very happy you're in a job that allows you to use them. It was a fascinating article with just a hint of creepy. Grandma Squeakie is visiting and she watched it and loved seeing your work. She says "fantastic job!" and wishes she could see you. Hope to see you soon at the beach. Aunt T
SummerLetters
The lab is so inspiring!
I wish my city have such collections to refer too.
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