Strange Objects of Desire: Victorian Glassware

If there’s one thing I’m almost certain about when it comes to Victorians–it’s that they had a heck of a lot of time on their hands. Without Instagram to fill those empty moments, Pinterest to procrastinate through their evenings or Netflix to swallow up their weekends, Victorians by default, were a pretty creative and curious bunch.…

Treat Yourself to a Moment with this Artist

There are moments in my endless hours of browsing the web, digging for my next rabbit hole, when I stop and find something a little bit magical– something that opens that door to Narnia that I’m forever searching for, if only for a few seconds. Miena’s moving illustrations (literally and figuratively moving) are one of those…

Vintage Muse du Jour: Peggy Guggenheim, Patron Saint of Art & Sex

You probably know Guggenheim– the name, the museums, the collections– but do you know the woman behind legendary the name (and sunglasses)? Peggy Guggenheim didn’t live the domesticated life that was expected of an heiress. She was her own kind of bohemian, impossible to define, mysterious and in many ways, tragic in her loneliness. But…

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These Futurist 18th Century Observatories were probably built by Time Travellers

To add to the mystery, no one is actually sure when they were built. Located at several sites scattered around central and Northern India, it’s been estimated the colossal astronomy instruments were constructed as early as 1710. But is it just us, or do these structures look like they came straight off a Star Wars…

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I Have This Thing with Topiaries

Maybe it’s because, in truth, they’re completely unnecessary but so utterly gratifying when trimmed with precision. Maybe it’s because they transport us to the fantasies of our childhood, both romantic and slightly eerie (we’ve all seen how things end for Jack Nicholson in The Shining), but whatever the reason, we can’t stop staring at topiaries, so…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CCCXXIX)

1. Gustav Mesmer and his umbrella helicopter Gustav Mesmer (1903–1994) was a German inventor of experimental human-powered flying machines, often referred to in the press as “the Icarus of Lautertal.” He has been championed by curators as an outsider artist, while his theories about improving aerodynamics through wing and sail piercings have been of interest to scientists. He was…

The Problem with America’s Only Royal Palace

At a glance, it could be a corner at Buckingham Palace, but what you’re looking at is the gilded throne room of America’s only royal residency on U.S. soil. This is the Iolani Palace in Honolulu, Hawaii, built in 1879 for the last sovereign monarchs of Hawaii. Not many people know there’s an American princess in waiting,…

The Asylum That Gave Lou Reed Electroshock Therapy Is Also an Unforgettable Art Museum

“Excuse me!” says a man by a snowed-in dumpster. “Excuse me,” he continues, in a teleprompted tone, “Where are you, excuse me, goodnight!” It’s 2pm at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens. I tell him I’m lost, and pull out a map of the 300 acres where he is a patient, and where I’m late…

You May Be Cool but You’ll never be Cordell Jackson “the Rockin’ Granny” Cool

Somewhere in between Willie Nelson and Jimi Hendrix was Cordell Jackson, an American musician thought to be the first woman to produce, engineer, arrange and promote music on her own rock and roll music label. She was making music reminiscent of the Velvet Underground before the world was even introduced to rock & roll. The Mississippi-born, ballgown-wearing guitarist played with…

Let’s Take a Tea Break at Beatrix Potter’s Cottage

It’s time for a little breather, don’t you think? So today, we’re popping over to Beatrix Potter’s old village, in the calm of England’s Lake District. We’ll stop by Buckle Yeat for a cup of tea, and stroll through the garden where so many of her children’s book characters — namely, Peter Rabbit — got…