For two-and-a-half decades and across five continents, Janet Echelman (previously) has established spaces for gathering, although her approach emerges from an unusual angle. The artist is known for suspending enormous nets from ceilings and outdoor structures, which...
In photographer Alicia Vera’s portrait of her mother, Concepcion, she gazes skyward, her expression somewhere between curious and awestruck. The image has enough stylistic mottling and grain to obscure any sort of background, but Concepcion is clear: broad cheekbones,...
Authoritarianism is on the rise across the globe, including in the United States. In April 2025, NPR reported that in a survey of over 500 political scientists, the majority believed that the United States was moving from a liberal democracy toward authoritarianism....
I started reading Italian novelist Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection (2022) splayed out languidly on the beach. Then I was sitting up, nerves ablaze, and then on the train, the world outside whizzing past unnoticed, and then in bed that night, my Kindle having...
Working as an art director in New York City in 1962, Joel Meyerowitz was tasked with designing a booklet, the imagery for which was shot by Swiss-American photographer Robert Frank. Knowing very little about photography or the acclaimed documentarian,...
Anyone who’s donned protective glasses and spent hours camped outside with eyes toward the sky knows the strange, life-changing experience of witnessing a solar eclipse. The lunar equivalents are intriguing, too, and have fascinated people around the world for...
In Edinburgh, along a stream known as the Water of Leith, six bronze figures known as “6 TIMES” stand amid the current and beside bridges, peering enigmatically down the urban waterway. Similarly, in Liverpool, “Another Place” comprises 100...
In an 1889 Woman’s World article edited by Oscar Wilde, one writer called Liberty “the chosen resort of the artistic shopper.” Known for its bold floral fabrics since the late 19th century, the luxury department store on Great Marlborough Street continues to be...
Elbridge Ayer Burbank, “Geronimo” (1897), oil on canvas (image no copyright – United States, via the Newberry Library) Editor’s Note: The following text has been excerpted with permission and adapted from Speculative Relations: Indigenous...
From Pakistan to Sri Lanka, a vibrant tradition zooms down mountain passes and through city streets. The vernacular art form elaborately adorns vehicles with intricate motifs and celebrity portraits, while cabs brim with synthetic flowers, tassels, and dreamcatchers....
Since time immemorial, humans have been both awed and guided by the power of the unknown. A basis of spiritual beliefs the world over is the abiding question, why?—a probing wonderment often followed closely by, what happens when we die? Human belief systems provide...
From the now-defunct Longaberger basket company’s iconic Ohio headquarters to the distinctive Casa de Penedo — Portuguese for “boulder house” — the world has no shortage of quirky, fanciful, and just plain strange structures. Forthcoming from Hoxton...