The Endling Taxidermy of Lonesome George: Iconographies of Extinction at the End of the Line

Bezan, Sarah

doi:10.1353/con.2019.0013

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…These bodies can be woven into many narrative strands as they are used in different ways, including scientific, historic, and artistic (Bezan 2019). Taxidermized animals in museum displays are important to exploring big ideas like extinction and the Great Acceleration of change in the Anthropocene, although museums have not always used them in ways that promote multispecies justice (Guasco 2021).…”

Section: Slowing Time In Exhibitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slowing Time in the Museum in a Period of Rapid Extinction

Jørgensen

Robin²,

Fojuth³

2022

M&S

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Extinction of nonhuman species, as well as human-induced environmental change in general, is happening at a frighteningly fast pace. A recent global joint scientific assessment suggests that around a million animal and plant species are currently threatened with extinction because of human activity. In this article, we propose that museums have an opportunity to slow time for their visitors in a period of rapid extinction. First, we discuss the role of museums as galleries for active reflection and encounter with the loss inherent in extinction by changing the time scales in which people think and move. Then we introduce the articles in this themed issue on Exhibiting Extinction as all grappling with the tension between fast environmental loss and taking the necessary time to reckon with extinction. Time functions on another scale when extinction is involved, with the jumbling of past, present, and future. We argue that offering ways for people to think about and with extinction by slowing down time may be museums’ greatest contribution to addressing the real and present danger of extinction.

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Section: Slowing Time In Exhibitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slowing Time in the Museum in a Period of Rapid Extinction

Jørgensen

Robin²,

Fojuth³

2022

M&S

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“…The same could be said of Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island tortoise, who died in 2012. 16 He spent forty years in captivity as the only known individual of his kind, making it impossible to reproduce Pinta Island tortoise offspring. In these cases, the end of the future for the species was coming regardless of a few live individuals.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Extinction and the End of Futures*

Jørgensen

2022

History and Theory

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Extinction, in biological terms, is the end of an evolutionary line, a potential future cutoff. It involves a transition between the historical past in which a species was biologically alive and a future in which it isn't, a transition from extant to extinct. In this contribution to the “Historical Futures” series, I examine two aspects of extinction histories: transition and anticipation. First, I argue that scholars need to understand extinction as a process with a prolonged and even possibly reversible transition between extant and extinct rather than a definitive end point. Second, I analyze conservation as a practice of anticipatory extinction that tries to create futures for extant species. Extinction, as a nonlinear process, demands that we consider the coterminous past, present, and future. The end of futures for a species requires rethinking how we conceptualize historical (future) endings under times of rapid environmental change.

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“Thanks a lot, big brain”: Satirical Misanthropy in Kurt Vonnegut’s Galápagos

Sands

2023

Palgrave Studies in Animals and Literature

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The Endling Taxidermy of Lonesome George: Iconographies of Extinction at the End of the Line

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

Slowing Time in the Museum in a Period of Rapid Extinction

Slowing Time in the Museum in a Period of Rapid Extinction

Extinction and the End of Futures*

“Thanks a lot, big brain”: Satirical Misanthropy in Kurt Vonnegut’s Galápagos

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