The Guardian has assembled a gallery of some of the 4,500 golden age of space exploration pictures that will be up for auction at the Westlicht Auction House in Vienna on November 23.

You’ve probably seen the images of a horse galloping by Eadweard Muybridge, but have you seen his other pictures of animals and humans in motion?

showslow:

The ‘American Revolution Revolution‘ is a series of paintings by Shawn Huckins that combines 18th Century American portraiture with 21st Century lexicons, such as mobile phone texting acronyms, Facebook status updates, and Twitter postings. Essentially the main goal of the series is to explore the brief history of the United States comparing the political revolution of when the country was founded in the 1700s versus the technological revolution that’s been happening over the past decade.

Huckins on his project:

The American Revolution was conceived through an exchange of a few well-formed ideas communicated in person and by handwritten letters. Imagine what George & Co. could have done with the Internet.

Or not…

Well-worn are the theories that advancing technology isolates us more, not less, and it is easy to idealize centuries-past life as simpler, more civil, more intelligent and, ironically, more ‘connected.’ The point is, we live in a very different time than our Founding Fathers did, and we would appear to place our priorities in very different places: what entertains our selves versus what serves our society. Clearly a society must be politically free to indulge in the luxury of such introspection. But has the complacency of our political freedom blinded us to the potential our ancestors fought for?

If George could comment today, would he click the ‘like’ button, or post wtf? and then go check his Lady Gaga tweet?

Read his full statement here

The Cracking Art Group is an artist collective that aims to draw attention to serious causes with whimsical installations. Their recent installation at Milan’s Duomo was created to raise awareness and money for this historic landmark, which is in dire need of upkeep and repairs.

This is:

a) the crew for the first manned NASA Apollo mission practicing water egress procedures with a full size replica of their spacecraft

b) the most awesome pool party ever

c) all of the above

Answer: C 

Retronaut’s Maps Before Maps is a fascinating collection of medieval attempts at mapping. What they lack in accuracy they more than make up for in artistic flourishes.

The Sedlec Ossuary is a chapel in the Czech Republic decorated with the bones of around 70,000 people. To see more images of this macabre site and to learn about its origin, check out this great Kuriositas gallery.

Amir Zainorin creates portraits of historical figures using pinned postcard collages.

Zainorin on his work:

The work is done with postcards which I collected from different places such as restaurants and culture houses in Denmark, given for free. Not so long ago we had to pay money for these postcards, but due to a faster and more reliable system of communicating such as email or e-card, these postcards seems to be a ‘thing of the past’ and can be gotten free and now used as a form of advertisement or propaganda .

The postcards are pinned on to the wall while the rest are laid down on the floor. This gives the work a mortality or temporary status in which it occupies the space for only a period of time, just like a system, an empire or a person, Mao. After some time they are remembered in history books, on paper currencies, posters, stamps or on a postcard.

17th century Tibetan astronomical Thangkas

19th century astronomy illustrations by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot  

These vintage photos of exhibits being prepared for the American Museum of Natural History have convinced me that this must be the coolest job ever.

The Adventures of Madelene and Louisa (1859) is a remarkable vintage illustrated children’s book created by sisters Madalene and Louisa Pasley, who were 11 and 12 years old at the time of its creation.

(h/t Explore)

1906 + Today: The Earthquake Blend by Shawn Clover

Clover on his work:

After reading San Francisco is Burning, Dennis Smith’s superb book of San Francisco’s reaction to the 1906 earthquake, I got to thinking. What if I could precisely line up photos taken in 1906 with my own and combine the two together? 

Wikipedia:

Wound Man is an illustration which first appeared in European surgical texts in the Middle Ages. It laid out schematically the various wounds a person might suffer in battle or in accidents.

It would really suck to be wound man.

Neuroanatomical atlas illustration plates from the 1786 Traité d’Anatomie et de Physiologie by Félix Vicq D’Azyr