What, exactly, is it that motivates the collector? Is it primarily an obsession, an addiction or a compulsion? Is the urge to collect benign or malignantly invasive? No one has yet provided a compelling answer, and any collector would be hard-pressed to articulate what exactly is driving the need to hunt down and acquire that next essential piece. The symptoms of the collecting impulse are as varied as the collectors themselves: some collect categorically, some collect socially, and some are driven by aesthetic considerations above all, but most collectors agree that the thrill of that next find is one of life's greatest pleasures, and the love of certain objects can last a lifetime. --Evan Michelson, Collector, Morbid Anatomy Library Scholar in Residence, Star of TV's "Oddities"

I am very pleased to announce "Out of the Cabinet: Tales of Strange Objects and the People Who Love Them," a new collector "show and tell" and lecture series taking place at Observatory and organized as a collaboration between Morbid Anatomy and Evan Michelson, our Library Scholar in Residence and, more recently, star of TV's "Oddities."

"Out of the Cabinet" will take artifacts as a launching off point for exploring the non-rational power of objects and the alluring mysteries of collecting. For the duration of the series, a variety of collectors will be invited to bring in an object or objects from their own collections and use these artifacts as a departure point for a response of some sort, from an illustrated historical lecture to a loose meditation to a debate with another collector.

A few events have already been scheduled (see below), but we continue to seek private or institutional collectors living in--or with plans to visit--the New York City area. If interested, please email me at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com; And please, feel free to send this post along to any other interesting collector types you may know.

Full details follow. Looking forward to hearing from all you collectors out there!

Out of the Cabinet: Tales of Strange Objects and the People Who Love Them: A Collector "Show and Tell" and Lecture Series
Presented by Morbid Anatomy and Morbid Anatomy Library Scholar in Residence/Star of TV's "Oddities" Evan Michelson

What, exactly, is it that motivates the collector? Is it primarily an obsession, an addiction or a compulsion? Is the urge to collect benign or malignantly invasive? No one has yet provided a compelling answer, and any collector would be hard-pressed to articulate what exactly is driving the need to hunt down and acquire that next essential piece. The symptoms of the collecting impulse are as varied as the collectors themselves: some collect categorically, some collect socially, and some are driven by aesthetic considerations above all, but most collectors agree that the thrill of that next find is one of life's greatest pleasures, and the love of certain objects can last a lifetime.

Above all, it is our own personal history that imbues an object with meaning, and gives it resonance beyond its intended life. Collectors tell their inner stories through their acquisitions, and we can suss a collector's personality through his or her items without a word being spoken; a collection is a physical manifestation of the perpetually unseen, inner life.

Whether it's the pursuit of beauty, a sense of stewardship, the creation of a personal narrative, a love of science and history or acquisitiveness run amok, the objects a collector lives with speak to an undeniable drive to possess something rare, beautiful or personally significant. In this series, collectors will present some choice objects from their collections and discuss what it means to be possessed by a possession, what layers of meaning an object can hold beyond price or rarity, and what shadowed corners of the psyche are illuminated by the things that hold us in their spell.

Out of the Cabinet Events scheduled thus far:

• April 11, 2011: A Gathering of Bones: An Illustrated lecture by Collector Evan Michelson
• May 20, 2011: The Witch’s Dungeon: An illustrated lecture and show and tell with proprietor of “The Witch’s Dungeon” Cortlandt Hull
• June 2, 2011: The Bell Jar: An Artifact-Based Lecture with Collector John Whiteknight
• June 23, 2011: Home-Made Visual Albums: An Artifact-Based Lecture with Collector David Freund

For more on this series, click here. To keep abreast of newly announced events as part of this series, sign up for the Observatory mailing list by clicking here, or join us our Facebook group by clicking here. For more about Observatory, click here. To contact organizers with questions or suggestions, click here.

Images: Top to bottom:

1. The Artist in His Museum, Charles Willson Peale, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; found here.
2. Early 20th
   Century Department Store Mannequin, From the Home Collection of Evan Michelson, Antiques Dealer, New Jersey, as seen in the Private Cabinets Series, Joanna Ebenstein, 2009
   
3. From the Home Collection of Evan Michelson, Antiques Dealer, New Jersey, as seen in the Private Cabinets Series, Joanna Ebenstein, 2009
   
4. Kitten Princess of Winter by Fine Art Taxidermist Tia Resleure of A Case of Curiosities, From the Collection of Ronni Ascagni, Art Director, New York City as seen in the Private Cabinets Series, Joanna Ebenstein, 2009
5. Tim Knox and Todd Longstaffe-Gowan Collection, Private Collection, London, England, as seen in the Private Cabinets Series, Joanna Ebenstein, 2009
6. Tim Knox and Todd Longstaffe-Gowan Collection, Private Collection, London, England, as seen in the Private Cabinets Series, Joanna Ebenstein, 2009