News
Kaleidoscopic Interior by Pritzker Prize–Winning Architect Faces Demolition in NYC
Since opening in 1976, 1 United Nations Plaza has been an experience like tumbling into a hall of mirrors.
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.
News
Mementoes of Grief Go to Auction from the US's Only Museum for Mourning Art
Art related to death in the United States evolved from European influences in the colonial era to a distinct language of mourning, guided by widespread grieving for public figures like the country's presidents.
Books
The Ghosts, Mermaids, and Beautiful Rats of Japan's Tiny Netsuke Carvings
Miniature meditating skeletons, snarling cats, eerie ghosts, and gods of fortune carved in ivory, wood, and horn adorned the sashes of Japanese men throughout the Edo period.
Art
Reassembling the Lost Library of a 16th-Century Magician Who Spoke to Angels
Scholar, Courtier, Magician: The Lost Library of John Dee opens today at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in London.
News
Oklahoma City School Discovers More 1917 Chalkboards Hidden in Its Walls
Chalkboard drawings from nearly a century ago were uncovered in the walls of a downtown Oklahoma City school.
News
122-Foot Dinosaur Makes Its Colossal Debut at the American Museum of Natural History
A cast of one of the largest dinosaurs to walk the Earth some 100 million years ago is being unveiled this week at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Art
Rediscovered Glass Plate Photographs Show the Skies 120 Years Ago
Over 150 glass plate photographs of the moon, stars, and solar eclipses were recently rediscovered in the basement of the the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) in Copenhagen.
Books
A Visual Essay Recalls the Latin Alphabet's Pictorial Past
The Latin alphabet's letter A can be traced back to an Egyptian hieroglyph of an ox head; the letter M is believed to have its origins in a hieroglyph representing water.
Art
Dealing with Death in an Evocative Game about Cancer
"We grieve in silence," game maker Ryan Green says at one point in That Dragon, Cancer, an interactive experience based on the illness and eventual death of his son, Joel.
Books
The Mysterious Folk Art of America's Secret Societies
Almost every US town has one: that mysterious Masonic lodge with its borrowed Egyptian or Greek details, arcane symbols, and windows and doors that rarely open.
Art
16th-Century Visions of the Ruins of Religious Wars
As the 16th-century religious wars raged around Europe, Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck collaborated with printmaker Philip Galle on a series of 22 engravings featuring Old Testament destruction.
Performance
Hearing a Poignant Eulogy in David Bowie's First Musical
The musical Lazarus, currently nearing the end of a sold-out run at the New York Theatre Workshop, is the closest we'll get to a final David Bowie performance.