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The Wonder Cabinet--an intellectual circus for the Mental Floss set--takes over Occidental College's Thorne Hall, from 10 a.m. to 7:30 pm tomorrow. As part of the college's first Spring Arts Festival, there are a number of talks, sessions, music and odd ball entertainment throughout the day, curated by former New Yorker art critic Lawrence Weschler, the college's Remsen Bird Artist in Residence.The Wonder Cabinet takes its name from the Renaissance-era kunstammers--small museums in rich people’s homes of curiosities from around the world. In one session, photographer Lena Herzog (Werner's wife) provides her take on the jugged fetuses in Peter the Great's kunstkammer --Russia's first museum--and specimens in several other major collections.
Other sessions include short films by Oscar-winning film producer Jessica Yu, artist Ed Ruscha, the Center for Land Use Interpretation and Boris Hars-Tschachotin; magic by Ricky Jay; David Wilson, the MacArthur-winning founder of the Museum of Jurassic Technology, uncovers the remarkable Russian mystical origins of the Soviet space program; Cal Tech physicist Ken Libbrecht reveals the secret life of snowflakes; and Guitar Boy (Nancy Agabian and Ann Perich) ends the evening with sly and twisted songs.
The program is free and open to the public. No reservations are required. Just come and watch what The Wonder Cabinet has to offer.