Whitney Barlow Robles (Visiting Scholar, Dartmouth College) will present on her new book project, The Collector’s Paradox.
Abstract: A contradiction lurks behind most museum artifacts: to be preserved, they first must be
destroyed. Museums are not simply reliquaries that save things from oblivion. They are also the
angel of death, the grim reaper waiting at the door. Focusing on animal specimens and other
objects, The Collector’s Paradox excavates 300 years of collecting that created the modern
museum’s Janus face. It also brings a humanistic perspective to scientific debates raging over the
ethics of specimen collection and artifact preservation today, revealing both the emotions and
unspoken philosophical assumptions that underlie scientific work. The book draws on archival
research, interviews, and fieldwork to bridge past and present and reconstruct alternative
museum futures envisioned by historical collectors. Insects play a prominent role, as
entomology, among academic disciplines, sees the most collecting activity today given the sheer
number of insects yet to be discovered—and the perception that insects don’t feel pain as
humans do. This talk will outline the project as a whole, with particular attention paid to how
collecting coalesced into a more modern form across the twentieth century through the adventures of long-lived bee scientist Ted Mitchell, who likened his collecting mania to a drug addiction.