Animal Logic 2007
Richard Barnes
Richard Barnes' Animal Logic collection depicts natural history museums in a state of after-hours undress. Half-installed dioramas, partially wrapped specimens, taxidermy animals in shipping crates. . . each photo has an illicit From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler feeling.
Barnes' work is a reminder that, all our suspension of disbelief aside, there's nothing natural about natural history museums. Context is everything - stick a dinosaur across the firepit from a Neanderthal, and you'll get a generation of kids who think "The Flintstones" qualifies as "educational television." In Barnes' photos, the deliberate nature of those choices are made obvious.
Animal Logic, 2007
Richard Barnes
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This article originally appeared on the old bioephemera September 9, 2007.
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