Author: Emily Eckles

African: 

Berzock, Kathleen Bickford. “Water or Palm Wine Container.” Art Institute of Chicago. Accessed on July 21, 2022. https://www.artic.edu/artworks /18 56 74/water-or-palm-wine-container 

Karp, Ivan. Explorations in African Systems of Thought. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987. https://archive.org/details/exploration sinaf00karp  

“Women Potters in Burkina Faso.” Development Workhop. Accessed on July 21, 2022. https://www.dwf.org/en/content/women-potters-burkina-faso 

Greco-Roman: 

Braun, Thomas, et al. “Greece, ancient.” Grove Art Online. 2003; Accessed 5 Jul. 2022. https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000034254. 

De Groot, Jean. “Theatricality in Pottery Design and Machines.” In Politics and Performance in Western Greece: Essays on the Hellenic Heritage of Sicily and Southern Italy, edited by Heather L. Reid, Davide Tanasi, and Susi Kimbell, 2:111–30. Parnassos Press – Fonte Aretusa, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvbj7grj.10. 

Hall, Edith H. “Greek and Italian Pottery.” Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Museum 4, no. 16 (1906): 53–57. https://doi.org/10.2307/3793411.  

Mastronuzzi, Giovanni, and Paolo Ciuchini. “Offerings and Rituals in a Messapian Holy Place: Vaste, Piazza Dante (Puglia, Southern Italy).” World Archaeology 43, no. 4 (2011): 676–701. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23210491. 

McManis, Amanda. “Perfume Vessels in South-East Italy: A comparative analysis of Perfume Vessels in Greek and Indigenous Italian Burials from the 6th to 4th Centuries B.C.” Master’s thesis, University of Sydney, 2013. 

Monsieur, Patrick. (2007). Amphora Burials and Burials with Amphorae: On the Reuse of Amphorae in the Northern Necropolis of Potentia (Porto Recanati, Marche). Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal. 133. 10.16995/TRAC2006_133_149. 

Paterson, Jeremy. “‘Salvation from the Sea’: Amphorae and Trade in the Roman West.” The Journal of Roman Studies 72 (1982): 146–57. https://doi.org/10.2307/299120. 

Tanner, Jeremy. “Nature, Culture and the Body in Classical Greek Religious Art.” World Archaeology 33, no. 2 (2001): 257–76. http://www.jstor.org/stable/827902. 

Mississippian: 

Baires, Sarah E. “The role of water in the emergence of the pre‐Columbian Native American City Cahokia.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water 2, no. 5 (2015): 489-503.  

Belknap, Lori. “Educate Cahokia Mounds.” Cahokia Mounds, September 6, 2021. https://cahokiamounds.org/.  

Friberg, Christina M. “Cosmic Negotiations: Cahokian Religion and Ramey Incised Pottery in the Northern Hinterland.” Taylor & Francis, February 25, 2017. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0734578X.2017.1378986. 

Holmes, William H. “Mississippi Valley.” Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley by William H. Holmes, 2012. https://scienceviews.com/ebooks/AncientPottery/index.html. 

South America: 

Belaunde, Luisa Elvira, Sara Welsh Colaianni, and Sara Walsh Colaianni. “CHAPTER 7: ‘KENÉ’: SHIPIBO-CONIBO DESIGN.” Fieldiana. Anthropology, no. 45 (2016): 81–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44744612. 

Brown, Mary. THE EMERGENCE OF THE BIRD IN ANDEAN PARACAS ART, c.900 BCE – 200 CE. PhD diss. The City University of New York, 2016. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi? article=2621&context=gc_etds 

Dohmen, Renate. Encounters Beyond the Gallery: Relational Aesthetics and Cultural Difference (International Library of Modern and Contemporary Art). London: I.B. Tauris, 2016. 

Rodriguez, Martin. “Moche Culture and Art.” About Peru History. August 2, 2019. http://about-peru-history.com/moche-culture-and-art/ 

Roe, Peter G. “Infinity of Nations.” Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian. Accessed on July 21, 2022. https://americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/infinityofnations/amazon/239608 .html 

Roe, Peter G. The Cosmic Zygote: Cosmology in the Amazon Basin. New Jersey: Rutger’s University Press, 1982.  

Scher, Sarahh. “Introduction to the Chimú culture.” Khan Academy. Accessed on July 21, 2022. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/south -america-early/chim-culture/a/introduction-to-the-chim-culture 

Dave Nunnally, curator. Spirit Boards, Located at The Soul Asylum. Alton, IL. Permanent Exhibit. Items courtesy of the Erskine Collection.

Reminiscent of the smell and feeling of entering the unusual storage room at your grandparent’s house, The Soul Asylum, advertised as a “curiosity museum” located in Alton, IL presents various oddities, curiosities, and haunted histories for visitors. Recently procured and renovated in March of 2022 by curator Dave Nunnally, the site boasts a wide variety of subject matter from Ouija Boards to serial killers, devices meant for torture to local history within Alton, including their own oddity, Robert Pershing Wadlow. The Soul Asylum and its Spirit Boards exhibit show visitors that the United States’ culture and history also contains spiritual novelties, stories of hauntings, haunted objects, and “odd” people and occurrences; the interest in this kind of subject matter has pervaded into today’s society but originally arose and spread from capitalist ventures to make money.

Titled Spirit Boards, this exhibit provides visitors with a brief history of Ouija/spirit boards within the US, and its connection to spiritualism. According to the labels within the exhibit, the first Ouija boards were produced by the Kennard Novelty Company in 1890 and 1891. While at first appearing to be simply a history of the occult, this exhibit explains the direct connection that Ouija boards have with patents along with capitalists, industrialists, and spiritualists. The rise of the occult and Ouija boards was because of widespread interest in these items, not simply misbehaving children and teens. The most fascinating aspect of this exhibit is how invested Americans were with spiritualism, it connects Mary Todd Lincoln to the rise of this phenomena in the US using séances and attempts to speak to the dead. The exhibit claims spirit board use coincides with the rise of telegraph (1844) and telephonic (1876) systems, and the desire for immediate communication.

The design, font, color, and planchettes used through the evolution of the Ouija board are laid out in a somewhat chronological order through the shelves of this exhibits two display cases. While most of the case is filled with Ouija boards and their coordinating labels, miscellaneous items that are not related, and arguably detract from the overall exhibit, are also present in the display cases. One such item is a first edition copy of The Exorcist. This lack of cohesion and strange inclusion makes little sense in this portion of the museum.

The entrance to the Soul Asylum is guarded by two iron gates, after paying a fee of $8.00 to enter, visitors are open to explore the large rectangular room and all of its exhibits. Immediately to the right of the entrance is a table adorned with a Ouija board and a planchette for guests to commune in front of the Spirit Boards exhibit. Following the same wall is an exhibit on serial killers, then a large portion of the room is dedicated to torture devices. Be aware, some of this content is not suitable for children. To the left of the entrance are two church pews and a few exhibitions of Alton’s haunted history. There is also an exhibit with a focus on Robert Wadlow, Alton’s “gentle giant.”

Spirit Boards subject matter is interesting, and the items used for display within the cases show just the wide variety and popularity they had within the US. It connects these items curious usage with a rich and complicated history that is compelling to read. However, this exhibit is shoved within two cases with various items and imagery that do not belong, and do not fit into the story that is being presented. Item labels are also curling or bent because they do not have the proper mounting within the cases. The spacing of the actual Ouija boards, planchettes, and images would be beneficial, as well as the removal of unnecessary objects.

Visited on June 26^th, 2022, this exhibit provided an interesting detour to my visit to downtown Alton. Located among other shops that also have peculiar natures to them, it fit in and allowed visitors to peruse a variety of items and subjects that are not typical in a more conventional museum. Seeing the historical connections, especially the popularity and cultural place that spirit boards had within the US was fascinating because there is not widespread knowledge about them now other than information related to horror-media. This museum, and the Spirit Boards exhibit, connect a more haunted history with the quaint town of Alton. Strange and unusual history is in fact a part of American culture and US (and world) history itself. This exhibit is well worth $8.00, so bring the family to try out the replica guillotine and stocks, and say hello to Katze, the 51-year-old taxidermized cat who greets visitors at the museum entrance.

Heritage, Quality, and Innovation: The Anheuser-Busch Story, Located at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. St. Louis, MO. Permanent exhibit.

Established in 1857, The Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis, Missouri grew from a small, local company to being a worldwide distributer of beer. With buildings still standing from when they were first constructed in the 1800s, beer tasting, and tours available, visitors of the brewery have ample opportunities to learn and experience. The visitors entrance opens into a large space with tall ceilings surrounded by tinted windows. As visitors continue forward, to their right is a souvenir shop, in front of them is the guest relations and tour desk, and to their left is a small exhibit on the history of the company. Set apart from the indoor Biergarten, this exhibit seems to be marketed to those most interested in learning about Beer, or perhaps those that are waiting for their tour to begin. Regardless of the visitors’ reasons for viewing, much of the information provided is later explained during the tour, so it serves as supplemental information for those who wish to know more about their experience that day. Based upon a chronological timeline, the exhibit provides visitors with easy to understand visuals along with objects used for advertising and of beer products made by Anheuser-Busch. This exhibit is meant to show the history of the company in a concise and easily digestible manner so that viewers are inclined to also continue to consume their readily available beverages.

Titled Heritage, Quality, and Innovation: The Anheuser-Busch Story, the exhibit aims to tell the story of the company and how hard work allowed for them to become a success story. According to the exhibit, “The Anheuser-Busch story is one of remarkable achievement.” Plainly stated in the first panel on the left side of the display, their story is one of values, vision, courage, and integrity. This framework is reminiscent of plaques or short stories that are often present in the lobbies or conference rooms of large businesses. Their years developing their business, period of struggle or contention, and their overcoming of obstacles to be successful are common in telling a more commercialized version of history for viewers. It prepares viewers for the tour if they have not yet attended it or provides more visuals for them to remember what they learned that day. The exhibits narrative plays to the American myth of picking oneself up by the bootstraps and their positively presented effort within a capitalistic system.

This exhibit is not set up in an enclosed space, rather it is a portion of a wall that is open to the large entrance hall one side, the indoor Biergarten on the other, and the customer service desk diagonally across from it. With a curved shape, the exhibit invites visitors to stroll through on their way to get beverages, or for them to wait for their tour to begin. Because of the nature of the brewery, it is loud inside, and voices carry because of the high ceilings. This space is set up with a plethora of chairs inviting guests to sit and look at the timeline in front of them, and it gives opportunities for those who are more interested to get closer and read from the display cases.

Visited on June 4^th, 2022, this exhibit was interesting to view before my tour of the brewery began. Its simplistic nature made the information easy to understand, and the most interesting aspect was their panel on prohibition and their response to it, and their competition against Pabst in the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, IL. This exhibit is not the main driver to go to visit the Anheuser-Busch brewery, it is present to give visitors something to do while they consume products of the company from the Biergarten that is located directly next to the exhibit. Visiting this exhibit is great supplemental information for viewers to think about while attending the brewery tour.