History

North America's Largest Witchcraft Collection Has Its First Major Exhibition

The first major exhibit on the Cornell University Witchcraft Collection opens Halloween, and explores the persecution of women through its historic objects.

Books

Picturing America's Weirdest Laws by Breaking Them

In photos that range from silly to unsettling, looking at the US's oddest, most surprising, least sensible — and sometimes outright fake — laws.

Books

A 19th-Century Guide to Seeing Ghosts Everywhere

The 1864 Spectropia used optical illusions to manifest ghosts in Victorian homes, and was designed to attack the quackery of Spiritualism.

Art

Starchitects, Sustainability, and Virtual Reality at the Architecture and Design Film Festival

The ninth edition of New York's Architecture and Design Film Festival balances movies about boldface names with documentaries about historic preservation of the future of urbanism.

History

Vintage Halloween Cards Are the Stuff of Nightmares

Anthropomorphic pumpkins, mirror divination, and space-traveling witches all appear in the curious collision of imagery on vintage Halloween cards.

Announcement

At Nomad/9 MFA, Holistic Pedagogy Prepares Students for the New Economy

An accredited MFA that leaves the white cube, bringing together social engagement and ecology at sites throughout the Americas.

Comics

Where Do You Keep Your Rembrandts?

Storage vaults and private museums are nice and all, but keeping art under your pillow means it's always within reach.

In Brief

Your Bus Ride Is a Battleground: Barbara Kruger Designed NYC MetroCards

The artist created two designs emblazoned with her trademark white-on-red text, posing difficult questions to New York's straphangers.

Art

Updating Ukiyo-Prints and Medieval Art with Allusions to Fast Food and US Politics

An exhibition at the Koa Gallery in Honolulu presents a retrospective of Masami Teraoka, whose art has combined critiques of contemporary society with pop culture iconography for over half a century.

Announcement

At BAMPFA, Two Artists’ Intimate Observations of Lives and Loss

Sometimes the slowed-down processes of painting and drawing reveal far more than the click of a shutter.

News

Over 1,800 Artists and Art Workers Sign Letter Against Sexual Harassment [UPDATE 2]

The public letter criticizes "an art world that upholds inherited power structures at the cost of ethical behavior."

Art

The Istanbul Biennial Examines the Tricky Question of What Makes a “Good Neighbor”

Dealing with themes of surveillance, personal and shared space, and what defines home in film, installation, and more.