Let the inimitable aesthete Viktor Wynd guide you through a subversive celebration of curiosities, art, mess, decay, and self-indulgence, passionately arguing that the world is full of wonder that is in danger of being sanitised and that collectors are the ultimate artists.

The Viktor Wynd Museum in East London is arranged with the sensibility of a 17th-century Wunderkabinett. It displays and sells an eccentric and seemingly random collection of objects — everything from shrunken heads to narwhal tusks — united only by the sense of wonder they inspire in their curator. Now, Wynd takes readers on a tour of homes, private collections and museums that share his fondness for things arcane, desiccated, antique, or just plain odd. The book visits rarified locations lovingly curated by bohemians and artists: from a rambling Devon farmhouse and its historic taxidermy to an Italianate villa in East London to the House of Dreams Museum. It also includes advice on how to start a collection of your own, covering details on auction houses, private dealers, flea markets and fairs, and shows that having distinctive taste does not necessarily require a massive budget.

About the Author:

Viktor Wynd is the proprietor of "The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History" in Hackney, east London and is chancellor of pataphysical organization "The Last Tuesday Society". He is the author of The Unnatural History Museum (Prestel).

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Пролистать книгу Viktor Wynd's Cabinet of Wonders

Viktor Wynd, master of the contemporary Wunderkabinett, is back with a collection of artifacts and curiosities that are more bizarre and wonderful than ever.

For over a decade, from a tiny storefront in east London, the artist Viktor Wynd has been reinventing the cabinet of curiosities for the 21st century. The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History is now one of the city’s most tantalizing tourist destinations. Wynd first introduced his worldview in the book Viktor Wynd’s Cabinet of Wonders, which John Waters called »an insanely delightful how-to guide . . . told with lunatic humor and absolute joy.« In this new volume, he takes readers on a tour inside his mildly-twisted mind, delving deeper into his philosophy of collecting, and describing personal connections to the objects he treasures.

Written in his trademark charismatic style, which blends whimsical stories with odd facts and obscure references, this book is filled with lavish and theatrical photographs and drawings. Loosely organized into thematic chapters, it ponders the beauty of skulls and masks; explores beasts, freaks, monsters, fairies, and mermaids; covers magical plants, hallucinogens, erotica, and dandies; and dips into the world of the occult. This might not be a book for everyone. However, it is a book everyone interested in cabinets of curiosities should have on their shelf.

About the Author:

Viktor Wynd is the proprietor of "The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History" in Hackney, east London and is chancellor of pataphysical organization "The Last Tuesday Society". He is the author of Viktor Wynd’s Cabinet of Wonders (Prestel).

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Пролистать книгу The Unnatural History Museum