January 29, 2003
Cabinets of Curiosities
There has been an apparent revival of interest in the idea of wunderkammern (literally 'wonder-chambers', otherwise cabinets of curiosities) over recent years. These collections are seen as the forerunners of modern-day museums, from which, however, they differed in a number of important respects. Wunderkammern (and kunstkammern, 'art-chambers') comprised exhibits whose purpose was to arouse wonderment rather than edification. Their emphasis was on the precious and rare, the novel and the marvellous. They were, moreover, organised according to pre-scientific criteria, arranged in some cases to suggest a microcosm, a model of the wider world. They were, moreover, oftenest compiled by aristocrats or royalty for private rather than public display.
One of the most famous of all kunst- & wunderkammern was that amassed under the supervision of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague ca. 1576-1612. Some of its exhibits are displayed here. Another renowned collection was built up by the Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher in Rome. Its catalogue, first published in 1678, inventoried perpetual-motion machines, optical tricks, a mermaid's tail, the bones of a giant and a host of other natural and artificial marvels. Britain's oldest public museum, the Ashmolean, in Oxford, can also trace its origins to a cabinet of curiosities acquired by Elias Ashmole (under somewhat suspicious circumstances) in the 1660s from the Tradescant family.
One of the most noteworthy attempts to breathe new life into the wunderkammer tradition has been David Wilson's Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles. As described in Lawrence Weschler's book Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder, this establishment juxtaposes genuine wonders with elaborate hoaxes to disconcerting effect, in an apparent effort to induce that ever-more elusive sense of wonder in its visitors hearts & minds. Also interesting is Georg Laue's latterday kunstkammer in Munich.
What brought me to write all of this down was that, this morning, I happened upon a thought-provoking project to compile an on-line wunderkammer created by artists/designers Marek Walczak and Martin Wattenberg. A few years back they developed WonderWalker, a graphical tool for individuals to collect their favorite links, forming a collaborative map of web objects. I'm not sure the graphical interface to these links is altogether successful, but their ulterior aim of creating a virtual nexus of overlapping wunderkammern out of web-sites appealed to me immensely. I suppose its not so conceptually different to such admirable & on-going endeavours as memepool and metafilter. Indeed, another such site, boingboing, advertises itself as a directory of wonderful things, by which it can be said to claim a direct inheritance from the wunderkammer tradition.
Posted by misteraitch at January 29, 2003 01:28 PM | TrackBack
WUNDERKAMMERN and Contemporary Art.
http://www.ottavianelli.net/wunderkammern/
(in Italian only)
Posted by: Ghis on October 11, 2003 06:27 PMGood Day Collectors;
I've been to the Museum of Jurassic Technology and it's amazing!
I've been building my own Wonder Chamber for 25 years and would like to talk to others with curious collections.
I collect insects, minerals, seed pods, shells, display cases, miniature buildings, natural history books and .
Lets compare our collections and sources!
Steven Mayerson
P.S.
You can get a look at my insects and me in a film called Collectors at Large by Portland Oregon film maker Patti Lewis.
METOZ will be able to create A NEW KIND OF CLEAN ENERGY.
METOZ IN THEORY IS THE PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE.
My idea is very difficult for understanding. It is not difficult for engineer - mechanic, who knows very good the Pascal’s law and even-arm lever.
THE CLEAN ENERGY
The entire world is looking for a source of clean energy. I have discovered a certain paradox basing on which a machine called METOZ can be built which by harnessing the gravitation of our EARTH can produce clean energy.
The energy producing process is demonstrated in:
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/paradox.html
and can be very easily confirmed by an experiment.
I am also in possession of a set of calculations which prove that the METOZ machine:
1/ does not consume water / 39 A5-pictures /;
2/ does not consume compressed air / 39 A5-pictures /;
3/ produces energy to the outside = 4 839 kGm during a „swing cycle” /39 A5-pictures /;
/ this is a „weight cycle” = the centre of gravity of the water in the METOZ machine sinks ( downward movement ) /
4/ energy is produced / released to the outside = 44 600 kGm during the „straightening cycle” / 39 A5-pictures /.
/ this is a “pressure cycle” = the water mass centre of gravity inside the METOZ machine travels upwards (upward movement) /
Features: 1/; 2/; 3/; 4/, of the machine owing to appropriate dimensions of individual elements of the lever mechanism.
The METOZ has an even-arm lever of a 1.72 m length. The centre of gravity of the lever lies beneath the lever suspension point. The METOZ is equipped with two cylinders of a 1.6 m diameter each. Piston sidewalls do not contact directly with cylinder walls. The lever swing changes between 0 and 25 dgr
Figures ( 3 x 13 x 4 = 156 ) present temporary, consecutive action situations at intervals of . The middle figure presents the machine and the side figures the position of the left and right cylinder and the mathematical description of these situations.
In the past I have made two models, which confirmed the legitimacy of my theoretical assumptions concerning the METOZ machine. I have got photographs.
I am looking for a person who would be interested in my invention. I can offer ample information. I look forward to hearing from you.
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/three_levers.html
13 - 03 -2005 Gdynia, Polska Zygmunt Orłowski
P.S. The term “gravitational paradox” use in this description relates to the mathematical and physical description of the action of the METOZ-machine.
THE EARTH GRAVITATION CAN BE THE SOURCE OF CLEAN ENERGY
=============================================================
By
Orlowski Zygmunt
Poland 2005
index html
COMMENTS CONCERNING MACHINE “METOZ”
“METOZ” is able to realize the cycle “deflection” and the cycle “straighening.” Both cycles are in accordance with current physic’s laws. “METOZ” as machine can not work and hand over the energy because it would be inconsonant to the law of conservation of energy.
I propose to execute the following intelectual process:
we have found ourselves in the Europe of XVII century. We know the trigonometry in the scope of being occured for “METOZ.” We know what is the even-arm lever and moment of force too. Just appeears Mr. Baise Pascal / 1623–1662/ and he publishes his hydraulics law with adequated experiment. All thinkers are sure that this law is correct and quite real. This time someone invents machine “METOZ”. Now turn up the following questions:
1/ why the implementation of the cycle “deflection” is impossible?
2/ why the implementation of the cycle “straightening” is impossible?Both groups: opponents and followers of bulding “METOZ” live in XVII–th century and they not know that:
a/ the idea of an “energy” will be introduced into science scarlerly in mid. of XIX century,
b/ the law of conservation of the energy will be exist scarlerly after 1847 y.
QVESTION!!!
WHAT KIND OF RATIONALY ENTERELY / ARGUMENT/ CAN BE DREAMED UP THE OPPONENTS OF BUILDING THE MACHINE “METOZ’ IN XVII CENTURY.
==============================================================
Please open GOOgle and klick metozor and after : index of metozor At is site that explains technical details in easy to understand language. example : http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/for_greenpeace.html or
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/energy_for_everybody.html
Everyone is able to build just the model of METOZ machine and test it. Please, have a look at http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/supplement.html Perhaps METOZ is some duplicating machine of a clean energy. I am inventor and owner of Metoz machine invention. Everyone can take absolutely and legitimate the METOZ invention and build the Metoz machine. I can help only. I can not build METOZ. I am moneyless. Thank you for your time and interest.
SO YOU THINK WE HAVE AN ENERGY PROBLEM ??? NO, WE HAVE A POLITICAL PROBLEM !!!
Posted by: Orlowski Zygmunt on September 4, 2006 11:05 PM It is something METOZ about.
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/not_for_idiot.html
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/cycle_str.html
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/work_deflection.html
http://www.metozor.nets.pl/metoz.htm
http://www.nets.pl/~metozor/energy_exper.html
P.S.
The conception of an energy is discreate one to the same as a imbecility. No one has seen the energy and no one has seen the imbecility. We are able to observe results of the energy and imbecility. At present we have got to few energy because we have got to much imbecility.
Thank you for your time and interest.