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"eccentric, mischievous, bizarre"

- a vintage emporium that delights in blurring the boundaries between art, anatomy, natural history & design -

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The Black Ink Society, Kraken eyeballs & quite a lot of rum!!

21/10/2013

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Well the last month has seriously reinvented the word 'busy' for us!!! Had an absolutely fabulous time tho, sourcing and designing a Kraken Autopsy Room for The Kraken Rum UK Edible Autopsy, aboard the X-Pilot Kraken hunting vessel.  
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Autopsy Room aboard the X-Pilot - designed by beetle & WILDE.
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Strange Kraken Autopsy instruments!!
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Kraken (edible) eyeballs
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Potions and tinctures for testing Kraken blood and viscera!
The Edible Autopsy was performed by the wondrous Emily Evans, Senior Demonstrator of Anatomy at Cambridge, and maker of extraordinary anatomically inspired treasures.
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Kraken Autopsy performed by Emily Evans
These amazing cakes were brought together by the inimitable Miss Cakehead, from a variety of fantastic bakers many of which will be available to see and tuck into at the Eat Your Heart Out - Feed the Beast pop up shop off Brick Lane this week. We will also be there with a beetle & WILDE pop up within a pop up shop!! Try saying that 10 times fast!
PictureKraken Mouth cake - toothilicious!!

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Tentacle and skull cake
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White chocolate skulls
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As if this wasn't enough to tantalize the eye and the taste buds, we also sourced and designed the HQ of The Black Ink Society - a pop up bar for thirsty Kraken hunters to rest their weary bones back on dry land.
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The Black Ink Society HQ - sourced and designed by beetle & WILDE
Filled with kraken hunting equipment and strange beasts the hunters had honed their skills on over the years, the HQ became a warm refuge from the rigors of the sea.
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Choc's away Bertie, Kraken sighted 9 miles off the coast of Kent!
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Essential Kraken hunting kit.
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Strange monster of the deep!
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Essential Kraken tracking kit
Here,  the Kraken remains were feasted upon and marvelous  fiery concoctions were imbibed, including, of course, the Kraken hunters staple - a spicy rum, as dark as the Kraken's Ink itself and a good deal more tasty!!
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In addition,  the wondrous tinctures and smokey brews of the The Kraken Rum cocktail competition winners were demonstrated and consumed with extreme enthusiasm and gusto by all present (especially me!). 
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The gorgeous and talented Sarah Harker, who is about to open a new site called Sohe Fusion Smokehouse in Newcastle, served her ‘Earl of Kraken’ cocktail with smokey aplomb and the equally lovely Manuel Correa, from Old Mary's Bar in London, served his 'Last orders at the Ville de Paris' cocktail with a fiery burst to the delight of all concerned!
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So as expected with all that lovely rum flying around our intrepid Kraken hunters got totally wasted and got up to all sorts of shenanigans on the way home!! But I can't possibly tell you about any of that!


The Kraken Rum - http://www.krakenrum.com/
Miss Cakehead - http://misscakehead.wordpress.com
Eat Your heart Out - http://evilcakehead.com
Emily Evans - http://anatomy-uk.com

beetle & WILDE review -
http://evilcakehead.com/2013/10/21/beetle-wilde-deadly-design/


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Reviving Victoriana, hot entomologists and hedgehog harnessing!

12/9/2013

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Well Autumn is fully upon us, you know how I can tell? (apart from the fact its cold and raining!) - we both came down with a nasty virus almost the second the weather changed! So now coughing and spluttering my way through the week with little coherent thought and an overpowering need for a soft blankey and Jaffa Cakes!
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The Congress of Curious People Symposium 'Reclaiming Spectacle'.
The weekend was, as expected, pretty curious with a two day symposium entitled 'Reclaiming Spectacle' by the Congress of Curious People. Here we learned that the Flea Circus of old contained actual fleas, St Bridget of Sweden married Jesus with his own foreskin (as a wedding ring), entomologists can also be hot fire eaters (who knew!!) and you can actually serenade a spider - although quite why you'd want to is beyond me!!
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Mac Brothers Fleas Circus Carriage
Congress of Curious People:  http://curiouscongress.wordpress.com/

Tessa Farmer http://www.tessafarmer.com/index.html

Victoriana: the art of revival
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visiting-the-city/attractions-museums-and-galleries/guildhall-art-gallery-and-roman-amphitheatre/Pages/Exhibitions.aspx


Dan Hillier http://www.danhillier.com

Apart from the hot entomologist, the highlight of the weekend was definitely the two short films by artist Tessa Farmer. Both of these were quite spectacularly gruesome, amusing and thoroughly griping. She has managed to invent a microscopic world populated by tiny, macabre and nightmarish entomological faeries that hijack and reinvent other creatures for their own amusement. 

This  apocalyptic world where bees are battled and hedgehogs harnessed is both bewitching and disturbing. 
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Tessa Farmer 'Parade of the Captured Hedgehog' 2006
So of course we can't wait to see more of her work at the latest offering from the Guildhall Gallery  'Victoriana: the art of revival' that opened last week. Here too will be another favourite of mine, Dan Hillier, whose work graces quite a few of my walls!


Right - back to bed with a hot toddy (the entomologist was busy!!).
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The random musings of a design obsessed palaeoanthropologist.

30/8/2013

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OK so this is me starting to blog for real. The best piece of advice I've had so far is sell what you love and write what you know. I love dead things and design and I'm a science geek, so I guess the blog is gonna include a lot of that - interspersed with cool events, products to lust after and the best vodka Martinis in town. Oh and probably something about cakes, coz everyone loves a cake right?


talking taxidermy.......


So yesterday I signed up for the Halloween Special of 'Stuff & Nonsense' at Barts Pathology Museum with the lovely Amanda's Autopsies. I shall be badly stuffing a hamster to go with my badly stuffed bunny and mouse - hey, its harder than it looks! The real joy of these classes (apart from the obvious skinning and stuffing part), is the awesome surroundings of the museum with its mezzanines of human and animal pathology in jars - cool dismembered fun! So watch this space for photos of my car crash taxidermy in October. If you haven't already been to a class or event at the Museum its well worth booking onto something, especially when Bloody Marys are included in the price!
More info & bookings at:
http://www.potts-pots.blogspot.co.uk/p/events.html
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Typical Society Club patron

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My badly stuffed, machine-gun toting bunny in a dress.

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On the theme of taxidermy, I am currently seriously considering buying this - I do love a little doggy and this one comes without the need for walking or constantly carrying surgical gloves and carrier bags.Too weird? Is there such a thing?


And talking of doggies (the live kind this time) I shall be sipping cocktails, checking the latest tomes and enjoying the company of some furry friends this evening at the Society Club Soho - there will also be dogs!  http://thesocietyclubsoho.wordpress.com/

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