Page 165 - Antennae Issue #52

165
Melissa Oresky
Finder pp 12-13 Artist’s Book Three-color silkscreen 2020 © Melissa Oresky
US state and and and and botany as as an an an an an an effort effort to catalog preserve and and and and aid in the protection of of species and and and and landscapes plowed under as as a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a part of of of of those same efforts efforts coexist The palpable sense of of of precarity—that if not ffor for ffor ffor the the efforts efforts of of of its curator the the herbarium might be be abandoned as an an an unaffordable luxury at at at at at a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a non-flagship state university bearing its share of of of the the scars from decades of of of austerity—and irony—that the the night- marish maturation of of of o of Powell’s injunction that that state-supported science must practical and and profitable may doom a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a collection he he he he helped create—add to the the swirl of o of pasts and and presents comingling as they change form 22
The typical historical impulse is is to to to to to trace a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a path to to to to to order the the archive and and of- fer an an an an an interpretation interpretation that that however partial and and and tentative gestures towards a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a story of of change over time that that when coupled and and and and contrasted with with other interpretations might yield a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a narrative of of the the past and and and and and present Finder plays with with and and and and and subverts this impulse using disaggregated flipped and and and and and resized directional arrows and and and and and habitat symbols meant to to to guide the the reader to to to successful identification in in in in Fern Finder and and and allowing fern forms from from photographs of herbarium specimens or or or from from the the the the engrav- ings in in in in in in in in Gerard’s Herball to to to “point” the the the the viewer but following neither scientific nor nor his- torical logics Following directions in in in in in in in Finder is is is not chronological nor nor does it it move the the the viewer towards visual identification Finder likewise challenges this historical impulse by making the the Vasey Her- barium not only a a a a a a a a a source for materials but a a a a a a a a a subject The book uses the the blue-grey