Cabinet of Curiosity

 Cabinet of Curiosity

Artist Statement:

Phrenology was a late 19th century physiological science. The study served as a pseudo-neuroscience as the study revolved around the belief that a person's head shape and size as well as the bumps on their head were indicators of their mental capacity in the respective region of their brain. The science was later proved to be false as psychology developed further and medicine improved. However at the time the science of Phrenology was very much a black and white study as many beliefs revolved around "If, then" statements. The artifact on the top shelf depicts a wire abstraction of a brain divided into several sections representing the belief behind different regions of the brain in phrenology. The artifact on the lower shelf depicts different regions of the brain represented by clay pillars with bumps indented into them. This represents the belief of the strength of different mental capacities as observed by the bumps on a persons head.