Archival Research
Travel to research libraries and archives has been critical to this project’s development. Although COVID-19 has limited our ability to continue traveling to such institutions, between 2017 and 2019, we visited The British Library, The Royal Institution (London), The Rosenbach Museum and Library (Philadelphia), the University of Pennsylvania, The Mütter Museum at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. In future we hope to visit collections at Harvard University, the University of Edinburgh Library Special Collections, National Library of Scotland, the Edinburgh Anatomical Museum, and the Whipple Library Special Collections at the University of Cambridge.
The British Library, London, 2016/2018
NOTE. Photographs taken by Marlis Schweitzer. Top row from left-right: 2016-Political Lecture Fold Out, 2016-Political Lecture, 2018-Accordian Page From the London Mathews. Middle row from left-right: 2018-Accordian Page From the London Mathews, 2018-The Lecture on Heads, 2018-Locker. Bottom row from left-right: 2018-Satirical Lecture Frontispiece, 2018-The Lecture on Heads, 2016-Political Lecture Fold Out.
The Royal Institution, London, 2018
NOTE. Photographs taken by Marlis Schweitzer. Left column top-bottom: 2018-Caricature Caption, 2018-Caricature, 2018-Desk. Middle column top-bottom: 2018-Institution Lecture Floor, 2018-Painting of Faraday. Right column top-bottom: 2018-View from Desk, 2018-Auditorium.
The Rosenbach Museum, Philadelphia, 2019
NOTE. Photographs taken by Marlis Schweitzer. From left-right: Cruickshank Sketch, 2019-Bumpology Sketch, 2019-Rosenbach.
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2019
NOTE. Photographs taken by Marlis Schweitzer. Top row, from left-right: 2019-Skull, 2019, Skull. Bottom row, from left-right: 2019-Skull Description, 2019-UPenn Philadelphia, 2019-UPenn Philadelphia.
The Mütter Museum, Philadelphia, 2019
NOTE. Photograph taken by Marlis Schweitzer. 2019-The Mütter Museum Poster
National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2022
NOTE. Photographs taken by Sara Masciotra-Milstein. Left column top-bottom: 2022 – Edinburgh Castle in springtime, 2022- National Library of Scotland, 2022 – Victoria Street Terrace, 2022 – View from the National Library of Scotland. Middle column top-bottom: 2022 – St Giles Cathedral, 2022 – Ross Fountain in Princes Street Garden, with Edinburgh Castle. Right column top-bottom: 2022 – Cockburn Street in the early morning sunshine, 2022 – Victoria Street (aka “Diagon Alley”).
Practice-Based Research
In addition to the archival research, Performing Phrenology also embraces a practice-based research approach wherein performance is used as a means of exploring historical questions around staging, audience reception, and the role of objects on the lecture stage. We work with play texts, props, costumes, and related objects that were central to lecturers’ performances as a means of deploying methods from material culture and performance studies to identify unwritten aspects of lecture performance.
The Lecture on Heads: A Performance-Based Research Workshop, May 7th, 13th & 14th, 2019
This 3-day practice-based workshop explored intersections between the scientific lecture and the 19th century performance style of lecturing, through the 1764 solo show: The Lecture on Heads. Written and performed by George Stevens, The Lecture on Heads presents numerous wooden and papier maché heads, each of which represents a stereotypical character (i.e. Old Maid, Fop, Politician, etc.). Over the course of this workshop, participants embodied these characters and experimented with different styles of lecturing. For the full workshop description, and to see the research outcomes, click here.
The Charles Mathews Project, May 26th-August 20th, 2020
This practice-based project was inspired by the “at home theatricals” performed by early nineteenth-century solo performer, Charles Mathews. This project is part of a larger research investigation, examining the relationship between the performance of human “types” on scientific and theatrical stages – particularly performances that involved a lecturer or performer introducing audiences to an assembly of fascinating human beings from all walks of life. After engaging in lively discussions around Mathews’ work, research participants Jayna Mees and Brandon Pereira created a contemporary monopolylogue inspired by Mathews’ “at homes” as a means of further exploring the dramaturgical similarities between scientific and theatrical lecture performances. To read the full workshop description and to see the research outcomes, click here.
Playing with Paper Dolls; Or, the Political Potential of (Re)Moveable Heads, December, 2021
This short video documents the popularity of paper dolls produced by S & J Fuller in the first two decades of the nineteenth century and identifies some of their unique features, most notably their removable heads. It concludes with a discussion of some of the discoveries made while creating replicas of the dolls in Winter 2021. To access the research video, click here.
performingphrenology.com 