Leslie Oschmann is the master of reimaging—painted canvases become handbags, plates become artwork, wooden discs become jewelry. Her Altered Ego series has me thinking twice about forlorn flea market furniture and worn-down sidewalk finds, trying to see the promise in each broken piece.

As classic typewriters fade from ubiquity, it becomes harder and harder to find those who still understand the delicate mechanics of their anatomy. Leave it to Wired Magazine to provide a toast to the careful hands that fix our broken ribbon spools—meet the last generation of typewriter repairmen.

File under “Best Album Covers Ever.” It’s Blitz! by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre’s poignant photo essay on the ruins of Detroit is a sometimes difficult reminder of the broken state of this American city, which was once the sparkling crown jewel of my home state. I know it can be again.

My sweet tooth is no secret. I’ll take a candy bar over a bag of chips any day, and I’m not too picky. Proudly, I can identify almost all of these busted-open treats sans wrapper.

Isiah Zagar and his wife have been collecting bottle fragments, shattered ceramics, and other found scraps since 1994. Since then, Zagar has covered over 100 public walls throughout Philadelphia with mosaic murals and has built the fantastical Magic Gardens, a captivating sight tucked within the otherwise frenzied scenes of South Street.

Chilean artist Livia Marin’s “Broken Things” sculptures explore the place where form and function meet before breaking apart again.