iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Hooray for Sylvia Plimack Mangold! One of my favorites: her Big Green of 1977, in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum. Gorgeous & smart & remarkable in its own right, but I also love the idea of it playing with Martin Johnson Heade’s Gremlins in the Studio (1870s, also Wadsworth!)

Illusionistic painting-within-a-painting of a landscape picture of a field with a rustic wooden fence in the foreground, mountains in the background, as though taped to a green wall. White paint drips down the surface as though from the painted landscape. Rulers seem to frame the larger green monochromatic expanse.

Another picture-within-a-picture— a landscape painting of a bucolic marsh at sunset, with haystacks and trees, seems propped up on two rustic sawhorses. Water seems to drip from the represented marshes onto the floor of the studio. A tiny figure— more of a circle with facial features and stick-figure limbs— seems to dance beneath the landscape painting, looking up at it with a smirk.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Thanks, Shannon! Would LOVE to hear your thoughts and discuss at some point!

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

props to Sandra Friesen, the designer of the cover, and to Natalja Kent, who photographed the Leopold & Rudolf Blaschka glass model of Passiflora laurifolia (1893, in the collection of @harvardmuseums.bsky.social) so beautifully!

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Reposted by Ellery E Foutch

University of Minnesota Press @uminnpress.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

If you were intrigued by the Ware Collection shout-out in Ben Lerner's TRANSCRIPTION: We've got something cool to show you! www.upress.umn.edu/978145297548... @elleryefoutch.bsky.social

Book cover for A Perfectionist Impulse: The Art of Stopping Time in the Nineteenth Century by Ellery E. Foutch. A realistic glass passion flower stem with two buds and two blooms against a black background, with the title at bottom in large light yellow lettering.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I continue to be gobsmacked by the defunding of institutions for the public good & concentration/hoarding of wealth in ever-smaller circles, without even the pretense of philanthropy anymore.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Gut-wrenching news from Philadelphia- museum of the ANSP closing end of Sept. Philly’s centuries-long intellectual & educational heritage is shrinking, from the closure of the degree-granting aspects of PAFA (Academy of fine arts), founded by CW Peale in 1805; now this: drexel.edu/news/archive...

drexel.edu

Preserving the Academy of Natural Sciences' Legacy and Collections for the Future

As part of this broader effort and following careful consideration, grounded in deep respect for the Academy’s extraordinary legacy, Academy and Drexel leadership have made the difficult decision to c...

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I still can’t believe it, but amazing Mark Dion wrote, “Rarely does one encounter a scholarly work so nimble and pleasurable to read. Crystal-bright and chock-full of fresh takes and revelations… This book is a truly vibrant contribution to the history of science, education, and popular culture.” 🤩

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Hi, the source you are citing is an undergraduate student newspaper, and there are not quotation marks around the discussion of “exclusively” drawing on HSM materials, indicating that the student journalist is paraphrasing or extrapolating info from EG-H. The grant contract had no such stipulation.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I'm grateful to all the librarians, archivists, curators, conference & symposium organizers, editors, image rights people, designers, and also many friends who helped along the way! DM for sweet discount code before official pub date.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Cultural studies of the 19th c often emphasize narratives of wholehearted embrace of progress or antimodernist nostalgia. This book centers a different kind of response to the era’s newly intensified awareness of temporality and history: an obsession with preserving perfection.

Orange and black butterflies arranged in symmetrical patterns within case framed by marbled paper. Each butterfly is pinned to a numbered cork. Specimens caught & arranged by Titian Peale, collection Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.

View of wood and glass cases in Harvard's natural history museum, with models of flowers crafted from glass by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka that look incredibly real-- yellow flowers atop a stem with green leaves in foreground. Cases recede into vanishing point.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The book explores a 19th-century desire to immortalize a "perfect" moment through art & technology, analyzing Titian Peale’s butterfly illustrations & specimen boxes, Harvard’s collection of Glass Flowers (made by L&R Blaschka), and representations of bodybuilder Eugen Sandow, aka the “Perfect Man.”

cover of book titled "A Perfectionist Impulse: The Art of Stopping Time in the Nineteenth Century" by Ellery E. Foutch. Features a glass botanical model of a passionflower made by Leopold & Rudolf Blaschka for Harvard's Natural History Museum intertwined with the text, against a black background.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

we're 4 days away from the official pub date... which means there are still 4 days for advance purchase w/ discount code! A PERFECTIONIST IMPULSE: THE ART OF STOPPING TIME IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY #SciArt #BookSky www.upress.umn.edu/978151791648...

upress.umn.edu

A Perfectionist Impulse

Exploring a collection of wondrous objects to understand the nineteenth-century desire to preserve the perfect momentCultural studies of the nineteenth centu...

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

love that @bsky.app marked this as 'adult content,' likely b/c of the 1889 photograph of bodybuilder Eugen Sandow- he *is* wearing a fig leaf after all! this was def part of the research process- lots of raised eyebrows due to requests from the 'locked case' section of the library, etc. Spicy c19!

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

if you're curious about what butterflies, the Blaschka glass botanical models @harvardmuseums.bsky.social , and bodybuilders have in common, dm me for a discount code. official, professional promo material to follow, but in the meantime: www.upress.umn.edu/978151791648...

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

the world is on fire, and everything is awful, BUT my book is finally an actual, tangible thing in the world and not just a bunch of random computer files! holding my book about perfection and its preservation in my imperfect garden. huge thanks to everyone at @uminnpress.bsky.social

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

There are so many lovely & moving & funny passages in Tillie Walden’s CHARITY & SYLVIA- this might be my fave. “A Comprehensive List, Formed At The Time By Which [C&S] Have Been Together some 9 Years, Of All The Qualities They Love and Appreciate In One Another” vs “…They Find ABSOLUTELY MADDENING”

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Reposted by Ellery E Foutch

jessamyn @librarian.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful

An aircraft passenger oxygen mask: a drop down passenger mask with air bag and yellow plastic mouth and nose cover, oxygen tube has been cut; Demonstration model used by flight attendant crew for passenger instruction. Has text on the side indicating that it's non-functional.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Absolutely devoured this book today (Ben Lerner’s Transcription) and am absolutely gobsmacked #booksky

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Hey everybody in my general demographic— do yourself a favor and check out Ronny Chieng’s interview of Ann M Martin, author of THE BABYSITTERS CLUB for some super heartwarming giggles & nerd delight. He *knows* those texts, man m.youtube.com/watch?v=QaVf...

m.youtube.com

Ann M. Martin & Ronny Chieng Celebrate 40 Years of “The Baby-Sitters Club" | The Daily Show

YouTube video by The Daily Show

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

what brings you to Midd??? i can share restaurant recos and more (or even meet up?)! would love to hear what you’re working on

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

FYI: Oxford UP credits Connie Gabbert as the designer for the cover of Cleves's book.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

In today’s on-the-nose news, received word that my book will have a delayed release date due to printing errors, and, luckily for me, @uminnpress.bsky.social is perfectionist enough to ask for reprinting. Still available for pre-order w/ a sweet discount code! www.upress.umn.edu/978151791648...

upress.umn.edu

A Perfectionist Impulse

Exploring a collection of wondrous objects to understand the nineteenth-century desire to preserve the perfect momentCultural studies of the nineteenth centu...

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Hey everybody, Michael Leja is giving an online talk about his terrific Flood of Pictures book this Wednesday (March 4), noon-1 pm eastern, and I’ll be serving as respondent. Please join us! You can submit questions in advance too. Hope to see you there! arth.sas.upenn.edu/events/globa...

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Still buzzing from the great talks and generative conversations of #CAA114 - thanks, colleagues, and College Art Association (which somehow hasn’t migrated over here yet!). Pictured: views from Sunday morning, Chicago/ Sunday evening, Middlebury Vermont.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Happy Christmas Eve! Here’s a picture of the first Christmas tree illustration published in the US, according to the NYPL- from The Stranger’s Gift, 1835. archive.org/details/stra...

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

ok, what amazing scholar of maritime painting and visual culture is going to give us a whip-smart analysis and contextual framing for the promotional images of Tr0mp’s GOLDEN FLEET??? www.goldenfleet.navy.mil

cyber-truck-like battleship beaming lasers, launching rockets, and sailing right into a storm

Battleship with ginormous us flag sails by the weeping Statue of Liberty; stormy skies part for incongruous shaft of heavenly light

Tesla-designed battleship of flat metal planes launches 3 rockets simultaneously and beams lasers at plane in sky and into horizon. Ominously burning ship in distance.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Claes Oldenburg, Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, 1969+ (Yale) #NoKings

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Joseph Keppler, “Looking backward: They would close to the new-comer the bridge that carried them and their fathers over.” Puck, 11 Jan 1893.

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Ellery E Foutch @elleryefoutch.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

reluctantly crouched at the starting line

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