Only March and it's already been a bumper year for science / art hybrid stuff that only makes us want more - more, damn it! More! Regular readers may have noticed a preference for the undead and the utterly unique on this site. Having received some information about a new exhibition at Londonist's favourite rusty-blades-and-decaptitating-hooks museum The Old Operating Theatre, we just had to share it with you, because we're assuming you love waxwork figures of conjoined twins as much as we do.
As part of National Science and Engineering Week 2007 and also as part of the museum's 50th anniversary celebrations, The Old Operating Theatre is presenting a new exhibition of waxwork sculptures by sculptor and photographer Shelley Wilson (previously a winner of the Wellcome Trust's Sci-Art prize).
The wax medium has a tradition of medical use: in the mid-1800s Joseph Towne pioneered the use of waxwork anatomical models for medical training and set the value of moulage* for years to come. Wilson's work is less about accurate anatomical information and more about the mysteries of the human body, the things that we can't comprehend, no matter how much science tries to explain.
The exhibition is open until 9 April and entry allows you to see the rest of The Old Operating Theatre Museum too which is definitely worth an afternoon of your time. Just climbing up the twisted old spiral staircase to the attic space of old St Thomas church ensures you a memorable museum experience and we won't even start on the displays of old poisons, the faithfully restored apothecary's table, the stunning operating room with sawdust-covered floor and stained apron on the back of the door.
Joint Account by Shelley Wilson at The Old Operating Theatre, until 9 April, £5.25 entry. For more information, go to the museum's website here.
*Moulage is the term used for false wounds, infections or eruptions made of wax or plaster applied to healthy subjects in order to safely simulate otherwise infectious or dangerous cases for trainee medical staff. Congratulations if you manage to use this word in casual conversation before the end of today.
