Archive: Umbrelloid

Access is tiered.

Warning for casual users: The search syntax is Boolean and case-sensitive. Searching for "Red mushroom" returns nothing; you must know the genus, species, or at least the collection site. The Archive operates on the old-fashioned logic that a researcher should know what they are looking for. umbrelloid archive

The umbrelloid archive is not without its problems. Access is tiered

You don’t need a grant or a building. The Umbrelloid Archive is a state of attention. Warning for casual users: The search syntax is

First, let’s dismantle the word. Umbrella (from the Latin umbra, meaning "shade" or "shadow") meets -oid (from the Greek eidos, meaning "resembling" or "having the form of"). An umbrelloid, therefore, is not quite an umbrella. It is the ghost of one.

An umbrelloid is a skeleton of rusted wire spoking out of a trash can. It is a single, defiant piece of fabric caught on a subway grate, flapping like a wounded flag. It is the upside-down carcass hanging from a low branch after a storm, spinning slowly in the wind. It is the almost shape of protection, now rendered useless.

The Umbrelloid Archive is the practice of documenting, cataloging, and venerating these failures.