For those of you with a tendency towards the gothic (no, not like Hot Topic), the amazingly curated collective of creepy and fascinating knowledge held within the Morbid Anatomy Library is a must see. It’s an intersection between art and ruminations on mortality, with a few medical curiosities thrown in. Cruise through their extensive online galleries (helpful hint: not while eating). For those in the New York area, you can even make arrangements for an on site visit of the collection or attend one of their many engaging lectures.
Tonight in Brooklyn, Morbid Anatomy hosts what promises to be a dark and delightful lecture & reading from author Alix Strauss on her book, Death Becomes Them:
Strauss will discuss in an illustrated lecture based on her research for her book Death Becomes Them, the phenomenon and history of suicide and the seductive appeal of celebrity suicide in Western culture. After reading from selected passages, she will discuss the methodology, pathology, and psychology of such luminaries as Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Dandridge, Kurt Cobain, Diane Arbus and Spalding Gray with an eye towards understanding why such brilliant people all chose this particular end.
Along with the reading and lecture, Alix will also do a quiz, complete with prizes. Specially packaged copies of Death Become Them which come with a Ouija Board Key chain or a Happy Childhood Memories Spray, will be available for purchasing and signing. Those who buy copies will also get a special gift — a small bottle of Funeral Home perfume, a coffin filled with skeleton mints or a waterproof mascara.
Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous, and the Notorious Reading & Lecture
Thursday, March 4, 2010Observatory
543 Union Street (at Nevins), Brooklyn, NY 11215
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5.00
