specimens

"My introduction to Mark Cunningham came when a small swarm of [beetles] arrived in my inbox at Otoliths. Delightful things, that I was instantly enamored of. Something of a paradox, though. So detailed they could only have been examined at length whilst pinned to a plush velvet tray; & yet so full of life. Now he has expanded his purview to encompass the world & presents us with [specimens] of unknown taxonomy, instances of instants in time. They may be ontological rather than biological, but eat your heart out, Linnaeus, there's a new kid in town who's going to take your crown away" — Mark Young.

Mark Cunningham received an MFA from the University of Virginia, and he lives now in central Missouri. If time was flexible and he could do whatever he wanted to, he'd be a Paleolithic cave artist. In particular, he would like to sculpt the two clay bison at the end of Le Tuc D'Audoubert. Since that seems unlikely to happen, or to have happened, he's taken to watching rugby on TV. He's also written three books—80 Beetles, BODY LANGUAGE, and 71 Leaves—and, now, SPECIMENS, a book he thinks is, you know, pretty OK.