



Visual Nature: Reconstructing Ourselves
- Apr 15, 2014
- By Dmarques
- In Publications
A new post for the Visual Nature column at Visual Loop. Read it here and below.
Reconstructing Ourselves
A visit to the Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) makes us come across eight heads, each inside a display case. They are tridimensional reconstructions of hominid heads, eight different species that represent the current knowledge about human ancestry, from 6-7 million years ago to the first records of our own species. Each of them gaze at the viewer with a bone chilling liveness.
Despite the high quality of Gurche’s work and how unique it sounds, there are several other artists acting on the same realm. The space and need was always there, but the modern interest of the general public in forensic science, popularized by TV series and movies, has potentiated the opportunities. Seeing the past being reconstructed with the excitement of detective work combines with the need to understand ourselves. And museums are exploiting this trend to attract audiences and do science outreach.
Coincidently, an exhibit just opened at the Natural History Museum in London that also focuses on reconstruction of human origins. Britain: one million years of the human story highlights the change in the country’s landscape and inhabitants, and introduces the visitors to creatures like mammoths, elephants and rhinos that 125,000 years ago lived on the same space they now occupy. All findings were done by a numerous and solid scientific team, which commissioned two full body reconstructions (Fig.4) to twin Dutch artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis. They built breathtaking realistic models that can be seen in this video, along with a glimpse into their work process.
Clearly reconstructing the inexistent or vestigial requires very specialized knowledge and plenty of hours of practice; the results are very impactful and effective in connecting us with ourselves. However, the hard labor of anthropological artists doesn’t mean they don’t know how to have fun. Check out the recent endeavor of Nigel Cockerton with a Crystal Head Vodka bottle!
- Fig.1 – Anatomical reconstruction of the head of Australopithecus afarensis (2.5 million years old), by John Gurche
- Fig.2 – Anatomical reconstruction of the head of Homo heidelbergensis (600,000 years old), by John Gurche
- Fig.3 – Stages in the anatomical reconstruction of the head of Sahelanthropus tchadensis (6-7 million years old), by John Gurche.
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Fig.4 – Anatomical reconstruction of a Neanderthal (left) and Homo sapiens, by Adrie and Alfons Kennis.