Page 164 - Antennae Issue #52

164 antennae
Melissa Oresky
Finder pp 10-11 Artist’s Book Three-color silkscreen 2020 © Melissa Oresky
practice and and the the the the the Vasey Herbarium in in in in particular have have been in in in in decline as as biologists and and other scientists question whether the the the the the the fields of study depending upon them have have be- come “passé” and should “be properly relegated to to the the the the the the past” 20 The Vasey Herbarium’s current curator Dr Joseph Armstrong who manages the the the the collections despite having retired from the the the university writes that he he he he he came into the the the position because “no one else was interested ” Herbaria are critically important he he he he he he argues for for conservation biol- ogy and the the the Vasey Herbarium which houses some of the the the oldest plant collections for for for ffor Central Illinois provides an an an essential resource for for ffor ecological restoration efforts in in in the the the region Yet he he he he worries “I think it might get given away away or or or or or or thrown away away if I I I I were not here here to object and and I I won’t be here forever” 21
Vasey Herbarium and and its contents are the the the perfect site for for compost history The specimens exist in in states of of controlled decay preserved through the the the skill of of the the the mounter acid-free archival paper and and and folders and and and cabinets that that block out light Even so they shed constantly Organization by genus and and and and and species means that that within a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a single folder the the the records of of of multiple past past landscapes and and and and of of of past past collectors coexist—fresh specimens still bearing bearing the the the pigments of of of life and and and and marked with with typescript collection in- formation lie stacked with with browned plants bearing bearing handwritten notes attesting their provenance from Powell’s Colorado expedition Here botany as imperial science mus- tered in in the the effort to to to to map codify and and and describe an an an an an an an an “unknown” interior and and and to to to to render it it (and the the peoples to to to to whom it it had long been known) governable to to to to an an an an an an expansionist