Mouse taxidermy @ homeX

Mouse taxidermy @ homeX

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MAKE stopped in to homeX @ Parson’s with James Powderly of EYEBEAM. Last night was mouse taxidermy, the linked photos are of mice taxidermy, so if that is something that you’re not comfortable with please skip this – Mouse taxidermy involves dead mice.

Here’s a bit about the class… the homeX concept is really interesting, it would be great to see homeX classes sprout up around the world, learning some of these skills…

Disruptive Home Economics will take us all through the center and to the fringe of what it means to make-it and do-it-yourself. Through in-class workshops and small group or individual assignments, this course will expose students, instructors and guests to a range of tools and public domain research selected to expand our concept of what we can make ourselves at home. We will start by making or modifying existing DIY and How-to projects and studying the way other makers solve problems and create documentation. Over the course of the semester, we will get hands-on experience designing, documenting and sharing our own DIY projects and research. We will take a generalist’s approach and expose ourselves to projects that involve a wide range of mechanical, electrical, computational and chemical processes. We will combine novel tools and materials with common ones and build projects for ourselves as well as tools for others. Along the way, we will also look at the way local and global cultural contexts influence the tools and technologies we make and those we use, as well as the implications of open source production by the masses. Students will be encouraged to release their work as openly and widely as possible and to experiment with traditional and contagious distribution of their projects.

homeX » Week 6: Mouse Taxidermy – Link & photos – Link.

Related:

  • homeX – Link.
  • Mouse taxidermy – Link.
  • Taxidermy mouse (photos from students) – Link.
  • Mouse Taxidermy @ Instructables – Link.
  • Duck mouse – Link.

20 thoughts on “Mouse taxidermy @ homeX

  1. hazyvariable says:

    I like the basic concept of homeX, but this specific project and the accompanying Flickr pool have caused me to lose a lot of respect for the program and for MAKE/Instructables for promoting it.

    If that level of respect for MAKE wasn’t as ridiculously high as it was before I saw this, I would already be canceling my subscription. I realize this will likely be considered some radical personal moral issue by a good deal of people who will then bring up the “if you can’t say something nice…” line and also say that I didn’t have to click on the link, but I consider this more like a situation in which a friend is going down the wrong path.

    I personally hope MAKE never ventures down this path again because it will become increasingly difficult to look past what I feel to be a glaring fault in an otherwise incredible publication.

  2. hazyvariable says:

    I like the basic concept of homeX, but this specific project and the accompanying Flickr pool have caused me to lose a lot of respect for the program and for MAKE/Instructables for promoting it.

    If that level of respect for MAKE wasn’t as ridiculously high as it was before I saw this, I would already be canceling my subscription. I realize this will likely be considered some radical personal moral issue by a good deal of people who will then bring up the “if you can’t say something nice…” line and also say that I didn’t have to click on the link, but I consider this more like a situation in which a friend is going down the wrong path.

    I personally hope MAKE never ventures down this path again because it will become increasingly difficult to look past what I feel to be a glaring fault in an otherwise incredible publication.

  3. fstedie says:

    It is a lab MOUSE! Get over it. Use those touchy feely sentiments of yours and go fight AIDS in Africa instead.

  4. CliffOR says:

    You’ve got it the wrong way around fstedie! Taxidermists cum Frankensteins should be putting their obvious biology skills to good use by fighting AIDS, rather than this grim example of so-called humour! It’s blatantly disgusting. I completely agree hazyvariable.

  5. aplumb says:

    No surprise this post is drawing some fire. It’s not something I would likely try (as with the blood-vest posted a while back; can’t handle the blood), but I’m not seeing the moral issues of which hazyvariable and CliffOR speak.

    Agreed that death itself isn’t funny and life is to be respected, but how is this any different from making something out of leather or bone, humorous or otherwise?

  6. howajo says:

    Death is part of life, and killing, when necessary is often justified. Without death of some kind, life cannot go on. With that said, life deserves respect, whether it’s the chicken you eat, or the ants you spray with Raid. It’s not something that a decent person does in a lighthearted or disrespectful manner. This activity is in poor taste and the people who participated in it need to take a good look at their own humanity. While some may say, “It’s just a mouse.” I assure you the mouse values his life just as much as you value yours.

  7. fstedie says:

    WRONG. Although the mouse does have a self-preservation instinct, it does not “value” its life. It has no idea that it is even alive since it is not a sentient being.

    killing a cow in order to make a purse or wallet seems more disgusting to me…

  8. trebuchet03 says:

    I am still amused :P If we preserve a mouse, that terrible! If we do the same to a dead human… well, we were kind required to do so for our grandparents – and I never saw someone protesting the morgue when they were pumped with formaldehyde and other junk o.0

    I can assure everyone — the mouse was dead, it valued nothing at that time.

  9. hazyvariable says:

    Sorry for the double post before, and I think I may have overreacted in my anti-MAKE response because they are just covering the goings-on of the DIY world, and this is just as existent as apple cannons and iMac night-lights.

    Usually I tend to keep to myself in internet debate situations, but I felt somehow obligated to respond in this case. I (personally) find it disgusting enough that worms/mice/frogs/cats are dissected in high school biology classes in the name of ‘education’, let alone to make these Frankensteinesque creatures.

    I agree with howajo in that those who practice this should consider their humanity. I’m sure many people doing this project look at it in the same way many people look at hunting, in that we’re the ‘alpha’ species, giving us the right to these practices, whereas I think the opposite is true. We should respect those ‘below’ us, much in the same way we support less fortunate humans, rather than turn them into playthings. Does anyone here agree with involuntary medical testing on humans? I consider these things to be more similar than different.

    To establish consistency in my attitudes towards the parallels others have drawn with this project, I’m no fan of human embalming processes. Also, I agree with aplumb in that this is no better (or worse) than using leather/bone for any project/manufacturing process, and I am also very against that practice as well.

    Should this debate continue, I hope to keep everything civil (as it has been).

  10. nikcandy says:

    … beyond the taxidermy – I’d be really interested in finding out how to sign up for the class – but am having a really hard time navigating around Parson’s website (curse you firewall!) … does anyone know how to get any more info on registering for next semester?

    Thanks

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