Art
The Real Corpses That Served as Models for the Doomed Crew of the "Raft of the Medusa"
For his most monumental painting, Théodore Géricault borrowed corpses from morgues and asylums to capture the ghastly horror of the 1816 Medusa shipwreck.
Allison Meier
Allison C. Meier is a former staff writer for Hyperallergic. Originally from Oklahoma, she has been covering visual culture and overlooked history for print and online media since 2006. She moonlights as a cemetery tour guide.
Art
ArtRX NYC: Halloween
There is something spooky for every culture vulture in the city this week.
Art
The First Known Depiction of a Witch on a Broomstick
In the 15th century, the image of the witch flying on a broomstick first appeared, its meaning laden with sexual and spiritual depravity.
Books
The Posthumous Fame of the 19th Century's Greatest Vegetable Photographer
Charles Jones photographed hundreds of vegetables in the 19th century, but it was only in 1981 that his work was rediscovered by chance.
News
A Lost 1920s Robot Is Reconstructed in London
The UK's first robot, Eric, disappeared after his debut, but the Science Museum has created a working replica.
Art
A Guide to Urban Havens in NYC, from a Quaker Meeting House to a Bird-Watching Refuge
The National Park Service and the Cultural Landscape Foundation launch a guide to New York City's cultural landscapes as part of a series on urban design.
Books
An Artist Who Cultivates Deadly Plants and Photographs Them
Matthew M. Kaelin takes pictures of carnivorous plants to highlight their beautiful and fatal details.
Art
Remembering Little Syria, a Forgotten Manhattan Neighborhood
From the 1880s to 1940s, a community of mostly Arab Americans thrived in a Lower Manhattan neighborhood that would later be the site of the World Trade Center.
News
Researchers Restore First Recording of Computer Music, Made in Alan Turing’s Lab
The 1951 recording of three songs played on Turing's computer has been restored to its intended sound.
Art
An Interactive Story That Prompts You to Speak an Endangered Aboriginal Language
Only three fluent speakers of Marra remain. 'My Grandmother's Lingo' is an interactive animation that asks users to speak words from this endangered Aboriginal language.
Art
When Edward Weston Took Photographs for Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass'
Although the book was a failure, Edward Weston considered his 1941 photographs for Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' as some of his best work.
Books
Nocturnal Photographs of the World's Oldest Trees
Photographer Beth Moon documents the world's oldest trees by the starry light of the night sky.