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Alice in Wonderland

Architecture

10 Whimsical Upside-Down Houses

By Claire Cottrell on

As the young heroine of our favorite title in the literary nonsense genre proclaimed, “if I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrariwise, what it is, it wouldn’t be, and what it wouldn’t be, it would.” In keeping with the nonsensical theme, we’ve explored one of the weirdest design genres that we can’t quite wrap our heads around: the upside-down house.

We think the architects behind these wacky creations must have had Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in mind; after all, who hasn’t been inspired by Lewis Carroll’s timeless tale of falling down a rabbit hole into a land where it’s always time for tea, solicitous caterpillars smoke hookahs, and turtles, lobsters and fictional beasts square dance. From Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle’s take on a famous work of uncompleted architecture to a capsized cabin in California to an upside down house complete with an inverted car park, click through to check out our dizzying roundup of overturned architecture. Could you ever live in a house flipped on it’s head? … Read More

Pop Culture

Celebrated Works of Art That Are Basically Fan Fiction

By Victoria McNally on

Among other criticisms that have been lobbied at the inexplicably popular erotic novel Fifty Shades of Gray, many have complained about the book’s origins; namely, that it was envisioned as an alternate reality Twilight fan fiction, and the author, E.L. James, merely replaced all the names of the characters in order to make it marketable.

Fan fiction gets an incredibly bad rap in the publishing and book-writing world; Anne Rice, George R.R. Martin, and Diana Gabaldon have all spoken out against potential fan fiction writers using their characters for their own stories. And “real life” fic, where writers create stories about their favorite celebrities (and often pair them together romantically), are even more vilified. We don’t get where all the hate comes from, though — sure, reading about members of One Direction making out with each other can get kind of creepy, but lots of your favorite books, movies, and even musicals are technically borrowed from other sources! Here’s a roundup of some of our favorites, as well as some we can’t believe exist at all — let us know what you think! … Read More

Design

Elegant Minimalist Posters for Disney Movies

By Judy Berman on

Yup, it’s another series of minimalist posters. But don’t judge Rowan Stocks-Moore for working an overdone angle, because his stripped-down Disney designs are well worth checking out — and perhaps even hanging on your wall. Reducing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to the image of an apple core with a heart-shaped seed and Pinocchio to a puppet escaping its strings, Stocks-Moore brings out an elegance noir quality in these classic children’s stories. Click through to see the entire series; if anything catches your eye, you can buy prints for a mere $20 at Etsy. … Read More

Art

Dreamily Eerie 'Alice in Wonderland' Drawings

By Alison Nastasi on

A Barcelona artist who goes by the name of Kodomos — what seems to be an appropriate riff on the children’s manga/anime style known as “Kodomo” — has created a series of darkly ethereal drawings based on the classic Lewis Carroll novel, Alice in Wonderland. The artist is a stippling machine, using creative mark-making and layering to craft the dreamlike illustrations. In Kodomos’ world, the story’s timekeeper — the White Rabbit — is monstrously large, and shadowy landscapes reveal an even more surreal side of the fantasy story. Browse Kodomos’ lovely and eerie images in our gallery below. … Read More

Books

Curiouser and Curiouser! 10 of Literature’s Trippiest Books

By Emily Temple on

Today is the birthday of the venerable Lewis Carroll, creator of what is arguably the best-loved children’s tale of all time, Alice in Wonderland. He’s also the author of one of the trippiest, most psychedelic books of all time, which is, um, also Alice in Wonderland. To celebrate the occasion of his birth (he would be 180 years old today), we’ve collected the texts that we consider to be the trippiest books of all time, “trippy,” in this case, being defined as “resembling or inducing the hallucinatory effect produced by taking a psychedelic drug.” See, kids: why take drugs when you can just read these crazy books? They are much less likely to do you any permanent damage — though we can’t make any promises. Click through to read our list, and let us know if we’ve left off your favorite trippy tale in the comments! … Read More

Film

10 ‘Alice in Wonderland’-Inspired Tales on Film

By Alison Nastasi on

With Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll’s birthday on the horizon, we wanted to follow a few films down the rabbit hole and explore some of the fantasy worlds portrayed in the Victorian-era novel. Ignoring the recent blockbuster monstrosity that is Tim Burton’s movie, we ventured into the pool of tears, got advice from a caterpillar, and attended a mad tea party to find out what movies explore the same kinds of themes that the English author made synonymous with phantasmagorical adventures and self-discovery. Check out our gallery of Alice-inspired cinema past the break, and tell us your picks in the comments below. … Read More

Photography

Surreally Humorous ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Inspired World

By Alison Nastasi on

Jean-Francois Fourtou’s photos of oversized people in tiny spaces and miniature humans navigating their enormous surroundings are like the best parts of dollhouses, Alice in Wonderland, and a Jan Švankmajer movie all rolled into one. An older (seriously small ) gentleman sits pensively in one photo — possibly trying to figure out how he can lift the massive watering can by his side. Meanwhile, a giant man in his undies curls up for a nap while tiny chairs and furniture appear to have crawled on top of him. Check out Fourtou’s surreally humorous world past the break. … Read More

Pop Culture

Pop Culture-Inspired Engagement Photos

By Caroline Stanley on

Love can make you do some crazy things. And we’re not just talking about what happens when you fall for another person — just look at the legions of Twihards who camped out for days to catch a glimpse of the red carpet at last week’s premiere of Breaking Dawn. But you know what’s even more unpredictable? What will happen you bring two culture vultures with a mutual passion together, and give them free reign to visually celebrate their relationship and their shared obsession. Imaginations run wild, and the resulting photos can range from giggle-inducing to surprisingly touching — and in some cases, they’re a little bit of both. Need pictorial proof? Check out the collection of tradition-bucking engagement shots that we’ve rounded up after the jump. … Read More

Art

Salvador Dalí’s Illustrations for ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’

By Caroline Stanley on

Can you think of a more appropriate artist to illustrate Lewis Carroll’s bizarre children’s classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, than the master of surreal, Salvador Dalí? And yet, until we were tipped off by this post over on Brain Pickings, we had no idea that back in 1969 Dalí worked on an entire series of gouaches published by Maecenas Press-Random House that were inspired by the novel — one for each chapter of the book. Click through to fall down the rabbit hole with a selection of the strange, beautiful images, which were recently digitized by the William Bennett Gallery. … Read More

Art

Amazing Literature-Inspired Jack-O’-Lanterns

By Nicole Rallis on

With All Hallows’ Eve around the bend, a select series of crafters and artisans have decided to pay homage to our favorite novels, authors, poems, and fairy tales through the art of pumpkin carving. But the specimens below aren’t your regular, run-of-the-mill, home-carved jack-o’-lanterns. Replacing canvas with pumpkin and paint brushes with lino cutters, each piece presents a glowing portrait of an influential writer or a scene ripped from the pages of their works.Check out our gallery of mesmerizing jack-o’-lanterns that honor literary greats like Edgar Alan Poe, William Shakespeare, and the Brothers Grimm after the jump. … Read More