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accidental mysteries
accidentalmysteries.blogspot.com
27
a blog about photography, design, art, architecture, ephemera, found objects, pop culture, anonymous, outsider art, folk art, self-taught art, illustration, beauty, esoterica, auctions, discovery, art environments, mystery, vintage stuff and the magic that can be found in everyday things.
#47853 in All

Young Me, Now Me

Click on any image for larger view.Click on any image for larger view.Click on any image for larger view.HERE’S A INTERESTING TAKE ON SNAPSHOTS. FIND A PICTURE OF YOURSELF from some time in the past ...

5 days ago

Brilliant Flying Bug

MikroKopter - HexaKopter from Holger Buss on Vimeo.OK, I’LL BE HONEST WITH YOU. THIS VIDEO IS 12 MINUTES LONG. I KNOW—BUT TRUST ME HERE. I WATCHED EVERY MINUTE OF IT, fascinated by the brilliance of ...

21 may 12

The Natural World of Horror

(Above) Classic Griffin: components; rooster, wildcat, turkey.(Above) North Woods Chimera: components; raccoon, wild turkey and pheasant.(Above) Ebony Griffin: components; rooster, wildcat, turkey an...

14 may 12

Love of Someone’s Life

HERE IS A REALLY ODD, COPPER ENCASED SILHOUETTE, CIRCA 1820, of a woman with a huge head and tiny little flipper-like hands. Turn the small oval frame over and you will find a finely interwoven, hear...

06 may 12

Ape Typologies

(Above) Forty different apes pose for photographer James Mollison. Click image for larger view.Click any image for larger view.Click image for larger view.Click image for larger view.WHOEVER SAID ALL...

04 may 12

The Art Whisperer

(Above) Portrait of Samuel Beckett: Click on any image to see larger view—youll be glad you did!SIMON SCHUBERT IS A GERMAN ARTIST WHO FOLDS PAPER. He is better known for his large and visually powerf...

22 apr 12 1 person likes this

How to Lose Your Security Deposit

Click on any image for larger view.Surfing the world of Russian Web sites and blogs I uncovered this example of horror vacui, the “fear of blank or empty spaces.” This is an exceptional example of a ...

17 apr 12

Mort Künstler: For Men Only

(Above) click image for larger view MORT KÜNSTLER (American, b. 1931) Sweet Lips Cove, Male illustration, November c. 1963 Gouache on board 16.5 x 19 in. Signed lower left(Above) click image for larg...

11 apr 12

The Modernist Bird

HERE IS A CARVING OF A BIRD IN OUR COLLECTION. IT WAS IDENTIFIED by a reader as a European Great Spotted Woodpecker. I think it may be 75+ years old. This bird, painted with broad shapes and squiggle...

03 apr 12

My Kind of Amusement Park

(Above) Vintage postcard from Prehistoric Forest in better days. This card is available at CardCow.(Above) Back of postcard.(Above) A Woolly Mammoth at the long abandoned Prehistoric Forest in Irish ...

26 mar 12 1 person likes this

Envelope Found Art

(Above and below) This is my favorite. A 1926 envelope postmarked by an obsessive, insane postmaster, I am quite sure. Waa-haa-haaa-haa! Click on image for larger view.(Above) Back of insane envelope...

19 mar 12

19th Century Japanese Pregnancy Dolls

(Above) 19th-century obstetric training doll - Wada Museum(Above) “Dark-skinned” pregnant doll - Edo-Tokyo Museum(Above) “Light-skinned” pregnant doll - Edo-Tokyo Museum(Above) Wood carved fetus mode...

12 mar 12

Bye Bye Blackboard

(Above) Albert EinsteinPhysicistEinstein’s blackboard was used in a lecture in Oxford on May 16, 1931.At that time Einstein’s theories of relativity were being combined with astronomical data to expl...

05 mar 12

Autochromes: The Earliest Color

(Above) An impressive 5 x 7 inch autochrome, circa 1905, from the gallery of Alex Novak and Marthe Smith. Learn more at 212.822.5662 or visit their website at www.vintageworks.net. Click for larger v...

29 feb 12 1 person likes this

The Critical Analysis of a Snapshot

(click on images for a larger view)WHAT MAKES A GREAT SNAPSHOT? As a general rule, many of the same things that one might use to judge any artwork fall into play. Connoisseurship in any field has its...

20 feb 12

Steven Meisel: Master Photographer

(Above) Steven Meisel, (b. 1954) photographer, cover of Italian Vogue.(Above and following) Steven Meisel, additional works.(Above) 1859 Japanese woodcut, artist Kunisada: front cover of book(Above) ...

14 feb 12 1 person likes this

Charles Burns: On the Darker Side of Strange

(Above) “Black Hole cover: Girl with Tail,” 1997, ink on paper, 21 x 14.5 inchesBe sure and click on the images for larger view.(Above) “Black Hole back cover: Looking Down Hole,” 2002, ink on paper;...

06 feb 12

Jump! Photos by Ted Owens

FOR THE OCCASION OF THIS SUPERBOWL SUNDAY 2012, I have to ask this question: was there anything more hilarious than this style of “run and leap” sports photography? You know the kind. They were in ev...

06 feb 12

The Stardust Drawings of Melvin Edward Nelson

(Above) Planetary Land, 1964; mineral pigment, watercolor on paper; 11 x 17 inches(Above) Planetscape #2, n/d; mineral pigment, watercolor on paper; 18 x 24 inches(Above) The Universe, 1964; mineral ...

22 jan 12

Elle Italia: Evolution of the Species

Click on any image for larger view.Magazine: Elle Italia, November 2008Editorial: Evoluzione della specieModel: Kemp MuhlPhotographer: Ruven AfanadorWHEN I CAME ACROSS THESE FASHION SPREADS FROM ELLE...

15 jan 12 1 person likes this

You’re Not Getting Older, You’re Getting Better

(Above) Comfit jar, France, c. 1880 (click for larger views)(Above) Vivid green berry tray, early 20th. c., Michigan(Above) Cork beehive, early 20th c., France(Above) Cheese mold with striking blue p...

08 jan 12

Vintage European Soap Packaging

I FOUND THIS WONDERFUL COLLECTION OF EUROPEAN VINTAGE SOAP LABELS VIA MY FRIENDS at Coudal Partners. You can see more of them here. Many of these are really wonderful and very applicable to current d...

02 jan 12

The “Other” Santa Photos

A child (above) wearing a Santa mask in what appears to be summer, turning her into a suburban gnome.Above, one of my all-time favorite department store Santa Claus photos.In this snapshot from warti...

25 dec 11

Defaced

If you haven’t been to the Web site Square America, you are missing something. This site is, hands down, the most complete, most extensive Web site on vernacular photography on the web today. The col...

19 dec 11

Vogue Picture Records: Vinyl Romance

(Top 2 Images Above, Sides 1 and 2): Vogue R 771. If I Could Be With You (Henry Creamer and Jimmy Johnson) b/w Jeannine (L. Wolfe Gilbert, Nathaniel Shilkret). Performed by Art Kassel and his orchest...

11 dec 11

The Beautiful Obsession of Snowflake Bentley

Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley (1865-1931)Snow was a blessing for Bentley, who devoted his life to showing the beauty and individuality of snowflakes.ANYONE WHO DEVOTES THEIR LIFE in the pursuit of a dre...

05 dec 11 1 person likes this

When a Dollar Really Meant Something

VINTAGE RESTAURANT or coffee shop signs are great examples of pop culture, and an excellent insight into the economic times of the day. Lay down a buck, get a meal and get change back. How cool.Here’...

27 nov 11

The Laurence Hutton Collection of Life & Death Masks

(Above) Life mask of William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and death mask of Samuel Hayes Pennington (1806-1900).(Above) Death mask of Henry Warner Slocum (1827-1894); and death mask of Jonathan Swift (1667...

20 nov 11

Japanese Condom Packages

Oooo-kay. We’re looking at 15 actual condom packages that I have assembled for you. It took me a couple of minutes of head scratching, but I’m leaning towards “why not?” So what’s wrong with a love g...

13 nov 11

A Scrapbook With a Focus

GAL, GAMS, AND GARTERS is a large scrapbook patched together by an anonymous aficionado of the ankle, thigh and leg, an enormous scrapbook found in a dumpster by a Virginia student in the late 1960’s...

06 nov 11

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