Nº 005 — Good boy
CAT-2024-005Sit. Lay down. Play dead. Stay.
Full specimen. Star pattern visible on cranial vault where fontanelle remains unfused
Process
Diaphonization — a clearing and staining technique that renders soft tissue transparent while dyeing bone and cartilage. The specimen becomes a structural diagram of itself.
Subject
Golden Retriever, juvenile. In young canines the anterior fontanelle — the gap where cranial plates have not yet fused — remains open. During the staining process, this produces a star-shaped pattern on the top of the skull where no color is absorbed. An anatomical detail that only becomes visible once everything else is removed.
Presentation
Flat container, selected over round vessels. Curved glass distorts fine detail. A flat mount keeps the small bones and structural elements legible, which is the point of the exercise.
The specimen has not moved since preparation. Excellent behavior overall.
Nº 001 — Sanskulla
A kalimba mounted on an autopsy-cut human skull top. Nine tines tuned to A minor. The calvaria functions as a resonance dish. You cannot play a wrong note. Reportedly.
Nº 002 — Early works (age 14)
Recovered from a box labeled "childhood stuff." Originally catalogued as creativity. Reclassified on review as something else entirely.
Nº 004 — 428
A skull constructed from 428 newspaper obituary clippings, modeled from an actual human skull in the collection. Each contributor has successfully quit smoking and drinking.