Friday, January 20, 2012

The Museum of Fantastic Specimens

This is a bit of a strange post, because I'm going to rely on a referring site before the primary site. I stumbled across the Museum of Fantastic Specimens via a Google search, but my total inability to read Japanese made navigating it a nightmare. Thankfully, I was able to backtrack to a post on the Pink Tentacle site that includes an extremely helpful guide to the Museum's collection.


"Each specimen has a clickable thumbnail that links to additional photos and historical and background information (in Japanese). The basement contains a bookshop and a cafeteria serving dishes prepared with some of the beasts featured in the museum (such as umiushi sashimi, served fresh from the tank and wriggling on your plate, with a balsamic vinegar sauce).

All of the creatures showcased in the museum are sculpted from paper, modeling paste and bamboo and are completely imaginary, claims Emoto -- perhaps a disappointment for hunters of the legendary tsuchinoko in search of an actual specimen, but an amazing collection of critters nonetheless."
These are some of the best sideshow-style gaffs I've ever seen, so the revelation that they're essentially paper mache came as a real surprise. The level of detail is simply amazing.



5 comments:

  1. Now that's some great inspiration there!

    - Andy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Did you try using google translate? While it is far from perfect, it usually does a good enough job to let you navigate.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ Andy

    I've steadily been gaining an appreciation for what's possible with paper mache. In the hands of a skilled artist it can produce amazing objects.

    @ Anonymous

    I tried, but the Google Toolbar is a bit wiggy under Firefox 8.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I discovered it some time ago , and it is true : the best cryptid collection ever made.
    Simply amazing...love each piece.
    take a look to this video too:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVCqEjFXk0

    ReplyDelete
  5. I notice you've been posting a lot of great paper mache pieces lately, and it's got me rather interested in giving it a shot myself. It does a fantastic job of replicating mummified flesh if done right.

    ReplyDelete