Fossil art / Искусство ископаемых

The art of fossils has long been recognized, and specimens of ancient life have formed a staple of beautifully and elaborately illustrated treatises - that is, art by any definition - since the dawn of publishing (from the 16th century plates of Mercati'sVatican Museum fossils, though not published until the early 18th century; to the flood illustrations of Scheuchzer Physica Sacra of the 1720's; to the magnificent illustrations of Haeckel's early 20th century Kunstformen der Natur, where the layout and geometry of elaborately symmetrical fossils blur the boundary between accurate illustration and the artistic conventions of the reigning Jugendstil). But, in this novel and wonderful compilation, Seilacher has broken new ground, both aesthetically and intellectually, in the presentation of fossils as art. First, all past examples have used the specimens themselves as objects of beauty. But, with just two or three exceptions (Ediacaran organisms, and later freshwater clams preserved with their traces), all of Seilacher's examples represent the activities and behaviors of organisms - burrows, traces, tracks and trails - rather than their overt anatomies.Thus, we learn that organic effort can be as beautiful as organic form. Second, most of the objects on display are casts made directly from bedding planes, rather than specimens themselves. (The technology of casting has become so effective and accurate that boundaries between originals and copies have blurred, both for scientific utility and aesthetic appeal).This technology breaks new ground for two reasons: first, many of the specimens are large and cannot, for reasons of expense or praticality, be collected. But casts can be made in the field, with the actual specimen left in place and the cast then available for study and enjoyment. Second, multiple copies can be made, thus permitting extended access to these beautiful and instructive objects. Finally, and in the best traditions of melding art and science these objects are both lovely to the eye, and inspirational to the brain.They are objects for learning (and often of mystery) as well as visual delights. W e often do not even know the identity of the organisms that made the traces. Moreover, we must use all the skills of imagination and the training of engineering to figure out how the organisms scraped, moved, or burrowed to make these works of art. Seilacher is the acknowledged master of this field, and we must all rejoice that he has now used his formidable skills in the service of both instruction and beauty. <...>