Project Description:

Throughout this semester I have studied what the ideal body is and it all started when I looked at botanical journals. I began by looking at images of both published and unpublished journals which had dried herbs and drawings of flora followed by their names and potentially information about their medicinal functions. When I needed to recreate these journals I started by looking into how to bind a book and learned about the surprisingly lengthy history of book binding. I realized that in addition to plants I would need paper, thread, needles, backing, book jacket, and glue to easily make a book. Unfortunately, many of these tools were harder to come by and so I used a knife to make holes in my paper and used a pencil to push the thread through. Technology has really evolved how easily this process happens as you can use mechanical needles for these processes now and while I did not have access to that I did have access to gorilla glue which took seconds to help create the structure of my book. The image is expected to be different as I also tested method that took various ties to dry the specimens. I used an oven which allowed me to test many different techniques over time. I learned more about how to shape the specimen so it doesn’t break, and saw that the plant actual loses some features as we try to preserve it. The final product looked rugged which is what I expected. I thought it was my first time so of course it was not going to be perfect and that it would be more accurate to the past. In addition, as I approached my paper I realized that I would focus on the ideal body and one of my previous selected pictures was that of a body builder. I decided to trace him and put him into my book like the primary source and it helped guide me some. This man was presented as the ideal man in terms of body and character. There were pamphlets about exercise, men’s health, and his path to having his body. While this step was easier it really got me thinking of the concept of the ideal body.

 

Through this process I have learned to think about the general average normal that people tend to idealize and see how as scholars try to capture the essence of a plant or body there is something that is always lost. Whether it be the form or function something is lost in that translation and we are left with gaps in information. This normal is actually a false ideal that we have decided to agree on, and I think it is nice how my pictures work on this idea so well. As we see this shift from the general average being the ideal in terms of perception or cognitive function, but when it comes to the general body the ideal shifts to the body that is on the extremes of the spectrum. We discuss how in medievalist perspectives the body is more than just the physical and how it expands into identity and emotions. One thing we focused on were emotions of desire and a reading we focused on had a touch into gender expression and how people altered their gender expression in order to appear like a desired set of people. These ideas lead me to wonder what the relationship between power, the ideal body, and desire are. I plan to look at cases throughout Augustan Rome to dive deeper into these ideas and gain a greater understanding of how the ideal body is represented and how it will evolve.

 

• What is this image for?
  • This image is for a book that I will be making to replicate a source that studied plants.
  • This image allowed for the plants to be held in one place together so that an observer could get a glimpse at what plants were being studied, but it seems like it may have been used for medical purposes as it focuses on the abilities of different plant specimens.
  • This image is for a book that I will be making to replicate a source that looked at masculinity and the male body.
  • This image allowed for people to look at the male physical body and this particular man’s image was used in a variety of places from info on the male body, to how to improve your body and the like.

• Where is the image coming from? What do we know of its source? Its audience?
  • This image came from a book from an English scholar. I am assuming that it would have been used to show his studies of flora.
  • One take is from an English scholar who was looking at medical specimens which displayed different herbs, and discussed their medical properties.
  • As I look into the books more, it appears that both sources focus on medical uses for flora and are presented in different languages. One source (the dried one) actually provides recipes using the flora shown.
  • This image is from a flap book which is why I made the replication as a flap for my book for you. We do see as I have mentioned that it is all over the place from health guides for men to, medical writings, to even pamphlets about how to stay fit.’

Materials & measurements

• Can we identify all the materials needed to make it?
  • Not entirely from this specific source but we can find similar resources. I am unable to distinguish what plants are being used, but I will try to replicate the foraging experience (to the extent that I can in Houston).
  • Not directly as I cannot tell what the plants are or what they used to originally color the plants. Additionally, I am unaware of what the dried specimens studied are and cannot read the English? French?
    • • In one of the books it is actually Latin
  • No since there are many different techniques that could have been used at the time as books of different varieties had different set ups and builds
• Are there multiple varieties of tools used to make it?
  • Yes the book seems like it may have a leather backing and the paper seems like it is a little thick to sustain the plants it holds. I am currently unsure of what processes are used to maintain the plant and prevent it from aging, but I will continue studying.
  • Yes it looks like the two books that I am looking at vary in how they are made which changes the end product so we see that one could be more of a soft covered book vs a hard covered book.
  • Yes it seems that when we look between the dried and drawn copies we would use tools for drying vs tools for coloring and sketching.
  • Yes because there are different methods for drying materials and I tried a few of them.
  • There are because they can look at a pamphlet and see different coloring and book materials.
• What is the stability of a material over time?
  • It seems that the methods used keep the materials in good condition as the plants within the botanical book are several years old. The leather does look like it has aged however.
  • The pages of dried specimens seem fragile as the pages are tinted and wrinkled, but the hard cover book seems to have retained well.
  • The dried one does seem to have rustic edges and actually is bound less tightly giving it a more worn look.
  • I have previously tried to press flowers and they actually wilted or molded in my attempts so if done incorrectly I know that these plants will absorb moisture and degrade
  • There is some stability but depending on the shape and moisture left in the specimen it may crumble when placed.
  • There is some stability but depending on the pages and material left in the specimen it may not last as long and the pages get damaged easily it seems
• Tools & equipment
  • What tools are necessary?
    • For a previous part I know that I needed plants so anywhere I went I grabbed leaves from where ever I went. I will need to start gathering tools to bind a book, and place all of the plants in it so this will require further research, but it seems I will need to be able to sew the book and will need paper, a tape like material, and leather or cloth for the backing.
    •  For this part I needed pencils, thread, paper booklets, and my hand in order to correctly align the pages and secure them to be bound together.
    • I needed cardboard in addition to tape and glue to secure the covering and jacket of the book.
    • I needed to regather some plants after I waited too long and some of them wilted
    • I needed an oven, some sunlight, and some flattening materials to test different ways of drying out plants and putting them into the book. Some light tape was needed to place the specimens into the book.
    • I need paper, pencil, backlight, and then I am able to trace him onto each of the pictures.
  • What are the best ways to replicate the effects of inaccessible tools?
    • The best way to replicate the foraging so far has been to intentionally explore places of Houston that I have not been and gather those plants, but I am unsure of what I will need to change from traditional book binding.
    • In this case it was not the most effective replacement to force the pages to have larger holes to push the thread through, but in the future I think I want to secure a long thin needle to pierce the pages with.
    • Gorilla glue helps make a tight and secure attachment to the pages, and cardboard is a good substitute for wood that may be harder to work with.
    • The oven with a flattening object helps to achieve the results needed for out replication, but it opens us up to ideas about how this process also causes the specimens to lose its unique properties.
    • Using a laptop as a back light rather than actually show TV. There are not too many ways to force replication but it is nice to see that we may not get the colors but we are able to reproduce the image.
  • How do technological changes impact our interpretation/expectation of the image? (e.g., engraving, woodcut, silver chromate)
    • With technological changes we can see that our techniques do not exist anymore, people mainly resort to digital images of plants which is more of the modern era of studies that we have seen. It is also peculiar that researchers also have different ways to uproot plants and house them in climate controlled environments to house them.
    • I wonder if book binding used to be a larger practice that was commonly known at any point in time, as it was usually a specified occupation. We can now preserve specimens in  variety of ways that give us different perspectives on the elements rather than a 2d drawing or a dried aged specimen.
    • Things like gorilla glue affect the timing of the book making process and the techniques used as it is water activated and you would never wet a book. It is cool to see how adhesives have evolved to become stronger, but that could also be a burden as with mistakes may cause you to start over.
    • Due to technology we can now try different methods to try and create the same creations with less time. Baking them has allowed me to try many new ways of drying them out and learning how to better retain the shape and texture of the plants.
    • We are able to try many methods with the powerful ovens we have now to see if they ae any better than others like when flattening the plants in the oven.
    • We are able to trace easily because we have back lights that allow us to see things in better resolution for tracing. We are also able to change how the image is presented to ensure we get details.

 

Field Note 1

Date: February 18^th, 2021

People Involved: Jesus Cisneros, Eddie Jackson

Location: Target, Chick-fil-a, My home

Reconstruction conditions: Planning/ Resource gathering stage; gathering plants

 Time and duration of reconstruction: 8-10:30 pm

Equipment and tools used: Car, money, hands, feet, nose, eyes

Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: Target felt normal. I walked around trying to find things to recreate a book and be able to bind it. There was no needles there so I was confused as I looked and was told there wasn’t any. After I got string, paper, and tape, I got Starbucks. I wanted to try to mix strawberries with coffee, but it turned out disgusting, and I wondered what I’d try next. It tasted first of strawberries, and then the mix of espresso with it, and ultimately ending in a bitter coffee. I went outside. I grabbed some leaves from the trees, and we went to Chick-fil-a. I needed food because I’m on Accutane. After we got our food I almost forgot to grab foliage. I grabbed a branch from the bushes and jumped to grab one from a tree. Fear went through my spine as a ?bird? began to flutter chaotically in the tree. It was dark, it smelled like chicken tenders.

Prior knowledge that you have: From both History of Sensation and The Body in Global Histories of Medicine we looked at how people studied the body of plants, animals, and humans. We saw different styles that seemed to either have personal touches as they visualized plants or be very detailed and try to stay as true to the plant as they could,, but that is in some way flawed as we all perceive our environments differently. I will be doing more research into botanical research and book making.

Reflection on your practice: It was fun. I felt that it was kind of artificial since the foliage that I am gathering so far has been mainly from plants that were purposefully placed in areas. I am thinking about going to a park (even though most of those also follow the artificial path) to get more “natural” elements for my reconstruction. I tie the idea of the country or nature to the foraging that may have been done for original works like the ones I am trying to reconstruct.

Questions that arise:

1: What areas in Houston are relatively untouched by man?

2: Do the areas constructed by mankind count as nature?

3: How do I plan to dry these? (Maybe oven?)

 

Field Note 2

Date: February 21^th, 2021

People Involved: Jesus Cisneros

Location: My home – Living Room

Reconstruction conditions: Morning in my living room

Time and duration of reconstruction: 11:20 AM – 2:28 PM

Equipment and tools used: Paper pamphlet, Box Cutter Knife, Needle, Thread, Pencil

Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: Things were warm. I was gathering the materials to start making my book. I had been looking into different methods to bind books, but then saw that the ways that could be used were too expensive for me to do. Additionally, I had gone on may trips to stores to try and find a sewing needle, but at the time there were no needles available. Employees literally told me to not go to their stores and try others, yet I still could not find one. I felt excited and a bit hungry, but I wanted to get  lot of progress done on my project. It felt painful because during some parts of the recreation I was not as cautious and ended up stabbing and cutting myself. It smelled like cut paper, and thread, and it was a little dark because I started Accutane and sunlight burns my skin very easily now.

Prior knowledge that you have: From both History of Sensation and The Body in Global Histories of Medicine we looked at how people studied the body of plants, animals, and humans. We saw different styles that seemed to either have personal touches as they visualized plants or be very detailed and try to stay as true to the plant as they could,, but that is in some way flawed as we all perceive our environments differently. I will be doing more research into botanical research and book making.

In addition I have found more information on how books were bound. There are different methods, but one that I tried to follow with my recreation is the one of having signatures to place the pages together. One way that these pages are bound together is by piercing them with a sturdy needle. Unfortunately I did not have one and had to settle for a combination between a box cutting knife, pencil, and my hands.

Reflection on your practice: I was unsure of how to make a simpler version of the book I was trying to bind, and I had told my friends that I was gonna bind a book and one actually sent me a video on binding a book which I decided to follow as my substitute for the processes I had originally found. I began by taking a paper pad and separating it into signatures or small bundles of paper, and then I would poke holes through all of them with my knife, and accidently stab myself when I laid it on my leg. I would eventually stop stabbing myself. Then I cut through the sheets of paper to make it a thinner book to better replicate the botanical journal. The sheets were not entirely even which felt more of a natural and true-to-self version of my replication. I then grabbed some thread and originally tried to push it through the book, but the holes were not large enough. So I used the knife to make them larger and push the thread through. If I was unable to push it through I would use a pencil to push the thread through.

Photos/video documenting process:

Questions that arise:

1. In the future if I were to remake this how could I be more efficient with the tools at my disposal?
2. I wonder what the thought process was for someone making a book at the time of this creation.
   1. Was it stressful?
   2. Was it their occupation, or did they just make it for fun?
   3. How did they design it to be durable for longer periods of time?

Field Note 3

Date: February 22^th, 2021

People Involved: Jesus Cisneros

Location: My home – Living Room

Reconstruction conditions: Evening in my living room

 Time and duration of reconstruction: 4:43 AM – 6:35 PM

Equipment and tools used: Paper pamphlet, Box Cutter Knife, Needle, Thread, Pencil, gorilla glue, cloth, tape, Cardboard

Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: I was feeling really tired, but I needed to get work done. I was getting scared to do the project because I knew I had to use Gorilla Glue and I just learned that it activates with water and a lady had just sealed her hair with it. It unfortunately stuck to my skin and tore some of it off so that hurt. I smelt the cardboard as I cut it and it felt sticky confusing as I tried to tape things, and then sticky and dry as I tried to glue them. I was starting on the couch again, but after hurting myself and seeing a glue thing explode, I opted to work on the floor to lessen danger to myself and the furniture. I felt confused as I tried to line things up and felt like I was solving a puzzle so that was fun for a little bit, but I wanted to get it perfect which was unreasonable for my first time. It was a nice start to seeing how rustic these book could be.

Prior knowledge that you have: From both History of Sensation and The Body in Global Histories of Medicine we looked at how people studied the body of plants, animals, and humans. We saw different styles that seemed to either have personal touches as they visualized plants or be very detailed and try to stay as true to the plant as they could,, but that is in some way flawed as we all perceive our environments differently. I will be doing more research into botanical research and book making.

In addition I have found more information on how books were bound. There are different methods, but one that I tried to follow with my recreation is the one of having signatures to place the pages together. One way that these pages are bound together is by piercing them with a sturdy needle. Unfortunately I did not have one and had to settle for a combination between a box cutting knife, pencil, and my hands.

Apparently, there are multiple ways to bind books together, and some methods including melting glue onto the pages so that they are put together. It reminded me of an are technique that was described in an anime I watched where they would seal wood together by melting glue between both pieces.

Reflection on your practice: I was unsure of how to make a simpler version of the book I was trying to bind, and I had told my friends that I was gonna bind a book and one actually sent me a video on binding a book which I decided to follow as my substitute for the processes I had originally found.

I began by taking my stitched booklet and setting it down. I then placed it on a sheet of cardboard and outlined how large I would need my pieces to be to act as covers for my book. I then cut out the sections with the box cutter knife and laid them out in order to tape them together. Once I had them organized and taped, I began to open the gorilla glue and it got all over me and some on the floor which scared me, but I was able to put the pad into the cover and glue it together. Once that had occurred and the glue had dried I looked through a box of clothes and decided on what would be a good cloth to use I settled on a stretchy and pretty cloth to have a good aesthetic and maneuverability with the material. I tore the stiches of the item and then planned out the size of the cover and then glued it down.

Photos/video documenting process:

Questions that arise:

1. In the future if I were to remake this how could I be more efficient with the tools at my disposal?
2. I wonder what the thought process was for someone making a book at the time of this creation.
   1. Was it stressful?
   2. Was it their occupation, or did they just make it for fun?
   3. How did they design it to be durable for longer periods of time?
3. How long did this process take for people and was this an apprentice kind of role or something that came as part of education.
4. How long did it take for gluing and binding techniques to improve? Were some techniques used for specific purposes (ex. academic papers, bibles?)

Field Note 4

Date: February 25^th-March 1^st, 2021

People Involved: Jesus Cisneros

Location: My home – Living Room

Reconstruction conditions: In my living room getting light, Night in my kitchen

Time and duration of reconstruction: 9:30 AM – 6:00 PM, 10:43 PM – 12:54 PM, Few Day Cycles

Equipment and tools used: Book, Tape, Oven, Air, Plants, Sun

Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: It was warm and sunny, I pressed leaves against my window and hoped that they would dry, but that takes a long time since there was actually little light that  penetrated where our windows in the townhouse are. It was nice and cute and reminded me of being in second grade where we put beans against the window so they can grow. I also felt like I was making cookies or a cake when I was using the oven because the smell of the oven mixed with my fear of getting burned were present. It made me think of last year when I burned myself for the first time when I tried making cinnamon rolls on my own for the first time. I was really excited as I saw the leaves change and as I pulled the pot off of them to see if they had dried and retained their shape or changed at all.

Prior knowledge that you have: From both History of Sensation and The Body in Global Histories of Medicine we looked at how people studied the body of plants, animals, and humans. We saw different styles that seemed to either have personal touches as they visualized plants or be very detailed and try to stay as true to the plant as they could,, but that is in some way flawed as we all perceive our environments differently. I will be doing more research into botanical research and book making.

In addition I have found more information on how books were bound. There are different methods, but one that I tried to follow with my recreation is the one of having signatures to place the pages together. One way that these pages are bound together is by piercing them with a sturdy needle. Unfortunately I did not have one and had to settle for a combination between a box cutting knife, pencil, and my hands.

Apparently, there are multiple ways to bind books together, and some methods including melting glue onto the pages so that they are put together. It reminded me of an are technique that was described in an anime I watched where they would seal wood together by melting glue between both pieces.

I used to be very into pressing flowers and so I tried many methods of pressing flowers. I would use books and flatten flowers, or put them in the oven to dry them out and I actually forgot about some of my trials and saw how well they worked years later. Some retained their shape but others did not or molded and crumbled.

Reflection on your practice: I first began with thinking of different ways that I had previously worked with plants once when I was younger I really liked the idea of pressing flowers so I attempted to press leaves within books to see how that would hold up, but I was unsure of how to deal with the moisture as that cause the plants to wilt and mold the last time I tried to do it. I also tried to sun dry them and ultimately did a lot more tests with an oven since it allowed for more trials. I found out a lot from trying to replicate the effects of the dried journals. It seems that these specimens were flat and so I attempted to redo that with an oven. Once without any suppressing objects I left plants to dry and they wilted and curled up. They became much dryer and had changes in their patterns. I then thought that since it was flat that I could use something to lay on top of the plants to keep them flat. I then found a pot but it had ridges on the bottom and I used it to compare them. The plants took longer to dry but it appeared more like the original source, and it seems that when flatten the plants actually lose some of their lines and structure which actually moves the specimen away from their original form. I accidentally crushed parts of specimen when adding them to the book because they were dried and not in flattened shapes which makes sense for the process.

Photos/video documenting process:

Questions that arise:

1. What are the best practices to dry out these plants and maintain their color, texture, structure with things available to me now?
2. Am I allergic to these plants?
3. What pain did scholars feel when they made these books and scenes
4. How did they prevent damage when putting specimens into their books?
5. What other methods were used for preservation of specimens?

 

Field Note 5

Date: March 13^th, 2021

People Involved: Jesus Cisneros

Location: My home – Living Room

Reconstruction conditions: Night in my living room

Time and duration of reconstruction: 7:06 PM – 8:41PM

Equipment and tools used: Book, Tape, Paper, Pencil, Light, Picture

Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: I was not sure entirely if I wanted to add this in, but it looks like I will be focusing on this part of the recreation to move forward with future assignments. It is kind of cool that this man was put on a variety of things from books to pamphlets to describe what a masculine body is and how to achieve and maintain it. At first I thought that it was peculiar that he was posted so many times on the Yalemedhistlib Instagram, but then it made sense as they all followed a similar theme. It was just a night that felt normal, and I was a little hungry, but wanted to focus in a different way. I was able to use some tracing paper and a pencil to try and make the piece. I thought it was funny because I almost started tracing on my birth certificate but I flipped it over and realized. I saw how in my picture it was tri folded and realized that I could add it in my book and even though it turned into a collage of recreations I kind of like how they both look at bodies in different lights.

Prior knowledge that you have: From both History of Sensation and The Body in Global Histories of Medicine we looked at how people studied the body of plants, animals, and humans. We saw different styles that seemed to either have personal touches as they visualized plants or be very detailed and try to stay as true to the plant as they could,, but that is in some way flawed as we all perceive our environments differently. I will be doing more research into botanical research and book making.

In addition I have found more information on how books were bound. There are different methods, but one that I tried to follow with my recreation is the one of having signatures to place the pages together. One way that these pages are bound together is by piercing them with a sturdy needle.

Unfortunately I did not have one and had to settle for a combination between a box cutting knife, pencil, and my hands.

Apparently, there are multiple ways to bind books together, and some methods including melting glue onto the pages so that they are put together. It reminded me of an are technique that was described in an anime I watched where they would seal wood together by melting glue between both pieces.

I used to be very into pressing flowers and so I tried many methods of pressing flowers. I would use books and flatten flowers, or put them in the oven to dry them out and I actually forgot about some of my trials and saw how well they worked years later. Some retained their shape but others did not or molded and crumbled.

There a lot of expectations for people to have specific traits, and earlier when we talked about what normal bodies looked like we can see how it relates to those of plants and how we look at many ways to generalize the appearance of a plant and then in sensation we also discussed the normal mind and how a generalized experience is what the ideal or normal is. It is quite wild how the ideal body sort of differs from that as people push for what most do not average into.

Reflection on your practice: It turned out better than I thought it would! I am not the best artist and the lights were kind of dim and the paper was thicker than I thought so I struggled to see all of the details, but that makes sense with tracing as I cannot get every detail. I think I talked about how I almost used my birth certificate which is chaotic. I thought it was really weird how this man was the image of masculine standards and started thinking about how that has changed and how men today would not have a mustache and be considered an ideal masculine man. I wish I knew how to better replicate shadows and dimensions, but that comes with practice and skill that I will need to work on. When I look at the pictures of the papers I want to say that theirs is definitely thinner which leaves it open for damage, but would have been easier to trace with if I had used a more similar paper. I also wanted to use color, but I am very bad at coloring and did not want to ruin the tracing, I would like to work on my coloring as to ensure that during replication I can recreate pieces without the worry of ruining them.

Photos/video documenting process:

 

Questions that arise:

1. What other methods were used for preservation of specimens?
2. What did this man do to keep this as his image?
3. What about him gives him such leeway, and provides him as the person to be?

Before you start, provide answers to the following:

• What is this image for?
  • This image is for a book that I will be making to replicate a source that looked at masculinity and the male body.
  • This image allowed for people to look at the male physical body and this particular man’s image was used in a variety of places from info on the male body, to how to improve your body and the like.

• Where is the image coming from? What do we know of its source? Its audience?
  • This image is from a flap book which is why I made the replication as a flap for my book for you. We do see as I have mentioned that it is all over the place from health guides for men to, medical writings, to even pamphlets about how to stay fit.