He writes, “natural history museums are inherently aesthetic representations of science in particular and conceptual ideas in general.”[2]: 240 Asma also notes the taxidermy of Carl Ethan Akeley (1864-1926).
Sally Gregory Kohlstedt writes that as early as the nineteenth century, “natural history museums were the principal location for dialogues and exchange of specimens among those debating identification and connection among natural objects.”[3] Traditional taxonomy primarily concerns "morphology.
Bio art and traditional taxidermy can be seen as being in conflict based on artistic philosophies of authenticity and the purpose behind representation.
"[6]: 14 Hansen discusses the nature of human and animal subjectivity through taxidermy practices, using Bryndis Snaebjörnsdottir and Mark Wilson’s nanoq: flat out and bluesome (2004) as an example.
[6]: 14 Hansen describes the preserved polar bears of Snaebjörnsdottir and Wilson as, "mak[ing] explicit the way in which animal life is 'serialized' through the use and display of the 'specimen'.