Significant Objects » Rob Walker

The Hypothetical Development project

Rob Walker — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:54:10 +0000

S.O. friends and readers, this may interest you:

With collaborators Ellen Susan and G.K. Darby, I’ve launched a new side project: Signage depicting imaginary building uses in New Orleans.

In a nutshell: We’ve identified a number of buildings around New Orleans that appear neglected and seem to have no future. We have devised imaginary future uses (The Museum of the Self, The Loitering Centre, etc.), and are illustrating those and printing onto 3′X5′ signage. These are meant to be “displayed” on the buildings (starting in December), and later in a gallery show (probably in April) in New Orleans.

It’s a comment about “future use” advertisements in the down economy; it’s a new form of storytelling; and it’s fun.

We’re raising money to print the signs on Kickstarter and made what I think is a not-bad promotional video there. In addition to the Kickstarter pitch there’s a further explanation here. Your support is much appreciated; a lot of people have volunteered a lot of time to get it this far, and I truly believe that if we pull it off, it will be delightful. I hope you will take a look. Thanks.

On Connecticut Public Radio’s “Where We Live”

Rob Walker — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:06:30 +0000

A quick note: I just did a short interview about S.O. (and objects and value and story) on Where We Live, with John Dankonsky, on Connecticut Public Radio. I chimed in for about the last 15 minutes, in what I believe was an hour-long segment with Paul Bloom, author of How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like. It was very pleasant and informative, and it has been archived here if you’re curious.

If any listeners to that broadcast have found their way here: We’ve been on a bit of a summer hiatus but will be publishing new stories (and auctions) in the fall, and look out for our book in 2011. Sign up for email updates here.

Epistolary Week Significant Objects In Their New Homes

Rob Walker — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:01:36 +0000

Napkin Ring + James Hannaham Story. Click to read the story.

Above, and after the jump, the latest additions to our Significant Objects Owners Photo Pool: Two from the recent Epistolary Week series.

Heart-Shaped Candle + Terese Svoboda Story. Click to read the story.

Save 20% on the Significant Objects limited-edition print!

Rob Walker — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:57:51 +0000

11x14; edition of 500: $50!

UPDATE: This sale has been extended until Tuesday at 11:59 pm.

Technically, I guess you can save 20% on any 20X200 order of $50 or more, but you’ll feel good about yourself for buying one of the ones created for us, because proceeds go to Girls Write Now. Concise details:

Enter code RIDONK at checkout for 20% off your order of $50 or more, now through Sunday @ noon.

Although, when I think about it, you probably would feel better about that if you just paid full price.

Whatever.

Your call.

Epistolary Week concludes…

Rob Walker — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:47:13 +0000

Thanks everybody for reading the stories and bidding on the objects and helping spread the word on our Epistolary Week series, guest-curated by Ben Greenman. In five short days we converted $3.50 worth of thrift-store flotsam into a sweet $229 donation to the good people of One Story.

Be sure to check out Ben’s book, What He’s Poised To Do, and the related site, Letters With Character.

(Not) Naming names: Would you buy an anonymous creation?

Rob Walker — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:23:20 +0000

???

We already know, thanks to this project, that people will buy a near-worthless doodad for much more than its free-market value after it’s given a completely invented narrative. But how important is the identity of the narrative-maker? In other words: Would Significant Objects still sell if we didn’t tell you who our authors are?

Here’s why I ask.

E pointed out to me an interesting post by gallerist and art blogger Edward Winkleman, as it mentions Significant Objects. I’ll get to that part in a second, but first the meat of his post. It’s a follow-up to an earlier Winkleman item in which he floated the idea of “a group exhibition of strong (but not undeniably recognizable) work by good artists, but with absolutely no names attached. The Anonymous Show.”

I’m talking no signatures anywhere on the work, no names on the checklist, no way for the collector to learn who made the work. The artist would of course receive payment for any sold work, but that’s all. No press, a contract stipulating they can’t add the show to their resume, nothing but the Art… The central question of the experiment being, of course: Is it about the art (for both the artist and the collector) or is it about name recognition, branding, prestige, etc. etc.?

Check his post for the feedback; it’s an interesting discussion. But actually, do that later, stick with me for now. In the follow-up post I read yesterday, Winkleman considers a complication: “the value of narrative.” Turns out that David Carson hipped him to Significant Objects, as well as this Q&A about the project conducted by Adweek’s Rebecca Cullers. Winkleman writes:

What interested me in this story, in relationship to The Anonymous Show idea, is finding some way to acknowledge the part narrative clearly plays in imparting value to art works. (And I believe it does : Had the Mona Lisa never been stolen, would it be as famous/valuable, or just another among Da Vinci’s works?)

Therefore, to address both the original goal, the quality issue, and the narrative issue, I began to wonder if the show might not be improved upon by noting that anyone who purchased a work from the show would be told who its author was (complete with bio and full narrative) in two years time. At that time, if the collector wished, the artwork would be bought back by the gallery for the same price. No questions asked.

All very interesting!

?!?

And of course like everything else it made me think about … Significant Objects! More than one member of this project’s virtual peanut gallery has bleated the allegation that our more famous contributors have a built-in advantage when it comes to auction time; in other words, these skeptics suggest, the identity of the author is more important than the story s/he creates. It’s certainly true that S.O. has many esteemed contributors — toppers of sales charts, recipients of coveted & prestigious awards, etc., etc. Still and all, our data shows that it simply isn’t so that author fame dictates sales prices; we’ve determined that it’s a secondary factor at best. While all our contributors have of course been gifted storytellers, many have never published a book, let alone a best-seller. Bottom line: the data simply do not show any consistent correlation between author fame and final sales price.

But I’m digressing. The point is, we’ve speculated before that in addition to the narratives created by our amazing contributors, our buyers are also attracted to the narrative of Significant Objects itself. My guess about Winkleman’s theoretical Anonymous Show is that the power of narrative would work in its favor in a similar way: People would buy the work simply to tell other people that they bought something at the Anonymous Show. (This would obviously be even more true if Winkleman (or whoever) did a good job on the “name recognition, branding, prestige, etc. etc.” of the Anonymous Show itself, but that’s another … story.)

!?!

I’m not sure if Picasso’s famous line about good artists borrowing and great ones stealing applies to curators or not, but I’m tempted to borrow or steal Winkleman’s notion and organize an Anonymous Week here on Significant Objects. We did pretty well selling a Mystery Object, so perhaps Mystery Authors would be another logical wrinkle in our ongoing experimentation. We could reveal the names of the authors later, I suppose — but I don’t like the idea of offering anybody their money back!

What do you think, readers? Would we get bids on object/stories if we declined to disclose the name of the Significance-maker?

Two trivial notes to round this off. 1) I once interviewed Winkleman for a Consumed that dealt in part with the gallery world. He’s a keen and lucid observer that scene, and if it interests you at all I recommend his blog. 2) I’ve never had occasion to speak with David Carson, but I did have this memorable semi-encounter with him a while back.

!!!

S.O., Geocities-ized

Rob Walker — Tue, 04 May 2010 00:55:21 +0000

Would look like this.

Now you know. My apologies for falling prey to a particularly pointless viral meme roflblah.

Counting down: Five auctions to go….

Rob Walker — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:28:54 +0000

As of 8:20 pm eastern, or so, Sunday.

Here’s where things stand as of… well, as of when I took this screen grab. These are the last five auctions of S.O. v3, proceeds to Girls Write Now.

Own a piece of this project, and support a great cause. If you don’t, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Just saying.

Our shop is open.

Significant Objects X Kate Bingaman-Burt X 20×200 — now available!

Rob Walker — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:54:23 +0000

11x14; edition of 500: $50!

I teased this last week — and now it’s here! We’re really excited to announce the latest S.O. team-up, resulting in thoroughly affordable art, and another way to support v3 beneficiary Girls Write Now.

The prints you see on this page are available in limited editions from 20×200, Jen Bekman’s online project that sells a dazzling array of prints from an impressive roster of artists, all priced to meet a mission of making art available to all.

16x20; edition of 20: $200!

The artist is Kate Bingaman-Burt, whose delightful book Obsessive Consumption was just published, and whose combination of thoughtfulness about consumer behavior and mad drawing skills make her our perfect match.

All these prints are created using archival pigment inks on 100% cotton rag paper with a matte finish.

8x10; edition of 200: $20!

Proceeds from the sale of these prints will benefit Girls Write Now, contributing to Significant Object’s grand total donation.

Girls Write Now provides guidance, support, and opportunities for New York City’s underserved or at-risk high school girls, enabling them to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy choices in school, career and life.

What are you waiting for? Here’s the link again.

Updates: iPhone app, art show, and $1,000-plus for Girls Write Now

Rob Walker — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 10:09:12 +0000

Three pieces of exciting news:

1. Our friends over at Electric Literature dropped a line to let us know they have created “mini-book of our Significant Objects on the iPhone. It’s free content, and the app is free.” How cool is that? Follow this link to get the free E.L./S.O. iPhone app from iTunes. And since I don’t have an iPhone, tell me all about it!

2. The Rabbit Candle + Neil LaBute Story from v2 will be part of a real-live art show! “Los Angeles, I’m Yours,” according to the site, “takes the best artists and designers from the Los Angeles area and brings them together into what we’re calling an “Art Market”, basically a gallery show formatted like a space you’d find in the Rose Bowl Flea Market.” A perfect place for Significant Objects to make its art world debut! The show starts April 24, details here. (Thanks here to Ted & Angie of Poketo for reaching out to us.)

3. And finally: With yesterday’s auction (Homies Figurines + Ron Currie Jr. Story, part of our Paola Antonelli/Core77 mega team up), we passed the $1,000 mark on the amount we’ll be forking over to Girls Write Now. Pretty exciting eh? Thank you readers and bidders! Keep helping us spread the word…. (And really, the “Crumpter” + Matt Brown Story and Materials is an insane bargain as I type this.)

Oh and finally:Don’t forget, we’ll have news of our collaboration with Kate Bingaman-Burt and 20×200 very soon.

Significant Objects X Kate Bingaman-Burt X 20×200!

Rob Walker — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:37:04 +0000

We’ve hinted at various cool stuff that we’re up to that’s in the offing and that we can’t quite share details about yet.

And now we’re doing it again!

But listen: You must have heard about 20×200 by now — the online art gallery that lets you “discover great artists at an affordable price”?

And maybe you also know the work of Kate Bingaman-Burt, whose book Obsessive Consumption was just published by Princeton Architectural Press?

Well let’s just say this. IF we at Significant Objects WANTED to team up with an artist and an online gallery to create a set of prints commemorating S.O. v3 WITH proceeds going to Girls Write Now, then LET’S JUST SAY that working with Kate Bingaman-Burt and 20×200 would be the coolest partners we could think of to make that a reality.

That’s all we can say. . . . . . for now.

More next week.

Significant Objection

Rob Walker — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:11:00 +0000

I’m a big fan of BBC Radio’s A History of the World In 100 Objects series, so I am supremely disappointed and irked that my attempt to join in the series’ interactive Web feature invitation to “add your object” to a kind of crowd-curated collection has been rejected!

I was inspired in part by this video in which a guy explains the significance of an ordinary-looking bar of soap — it is of course the object’s story (it was from the World Trade Center). Probably many listener submissions have stories attached. What could be a more useful addition to this discussion, then, than a Significant Object?

Specifically I thought the Mystery Object would be a really cool thing to add — as I argued over on Murketing.com, this may have been the most Significant of the Significant Objects to date: “By eliminating the object itself from the equation until after the bidding has concluded, this auction sells invented Significance in its purest, most uncut form yet.”As you know, the Mystery Object + Ben Greenman Story sold for $103.50.

Surely that’s a compelling finding to throw into a discussion of what objects mean! So I followed the directions and gave it a go. And sadly, BBC Radio disagrees with my assessment. In my description I explained the project, and I guess that’s why I got this message: “Unfortunately, your Mystery Object has not been put on the site. This is because it has broken our house rules on advertising.”

Advertising? It’s not for sale! (Or not from us anyway.) Maybe an S.O. being added to the online collection would have to come from one of our buyers who’s willing to go through the rigamarole (as I did) of registering on their site.

Ah well…

The Kasper Hauser Four-Part Story, all in one place

Rob Walker — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:01:37 +0000

A request came in to make this available in one easy-to-access post/link. Here it is. This is our unprecedented four-part, four-object, four-auction story. This is an incredibly difficult task to pull off, but we got the four members of Kasper Hauser to assemble what we think is a really wonderful extended piece.

Pencil Case + Rob Baedeker Story starts things off, and if you read that you’ll discover there are links at the bottom of each installment that will lead you to the next. Part two is Gaucho Tray + James Reichmuth Story, followed by Bronco Toy + Dan Klein Story, and concluding with “Brass” Pitcher + John Reichmuth Story. I love the way the pieces work together, and I really think they benefit from being read sequentially — to me, they’ve gotten better on each read-through. And I have to say, this kind of crazy, “can it be done?” experimentation is what makes S.O. worthwhile to me. So I hope you agree. And I really want to say a public thanks to the KH guys for taking this up.

There are some interesting questions, of course, about how this strategy might affect bidding. We’ll address those when it’s over. All I’ll say for now is: Remember, proceeds benefit Girls Write Now.

Experimental fictions of the Web: Your thoughts?

Rob Walker — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:49:06 +0000

Dear discriminating readers:

What are your thoughts about these attempts to tell fictional stories via unusual online means:

1. Sumedicina: “Data fiction project. Story telling with information graphics.” (Via Listenerd.)

2. Mr. Plimpton’s Revenge: “A Google Maps Essay, in Which George Plimpton Delivers My Belated and Well-Deserved Comeuppance.” (Actually, as the title indicates, a literary essay. Also via Listenerd.)

3. Dreaming Methods: “A fusion of writing and new media exploring imaginary memories and dream-inspired states.” (Via MetaFilter)

4. Love Begins A Picture: “Google Voice transcriptions formatted and annotated as poetry.” (Also not actually fiction, and maybe doesn’t belong here at all, but sort of interesting and also from that same Listenerd post that brought this up in the first place.)

Do you like any of these? Which ones? Why? Do you like the concept, or the story itself, or both?

I’m just curious.

Weekend reading: Stories about an “egg whisk” on Fictionaut

Rob Walker — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 02:39:39 +0000

What?

Not enough stories about objects in your week?

Well then! Check out these entries in the Significant Objects Fictionaut Group, where the following talented writers have all created stories about the above object. Which one do you find to be most Significant? Chime in over on Fictionaut, or let us know here in the comments. We want your feedback! After all, our earlier Fictionaut-made story, by Nicholas Rombes, ultimately fetched nearly $150 — we’d love to see something like that happen again on behalf of Girls Write Now. Help us, readers!

(And either way, it’s pretty amazing to read a half-dozen responses to a single object — yet another affirmation of the story/object possibilities that helped inspire this project in the first place.)

Here are links to the six stories in our group, with the opening sentence of each:

The Egg Whisk, by Sari Cunningham.”Two days after his bypass surgery she walked in on the nurse adjusting his catheter and dispensing dietary advice.”
Where Is Love? by Lynn Chakoian.”I didn’t always have this metal thing poking out of the top of my head.”
Summer Lawn, by Shelagh Power-Chopra. “That summer my mother moved to Maine and my father stayed put in the old house in Savannah.”
Culinary, by Meg Pokrass. “He said most food was better when baked evenly.”
How I Learned To Cook, by Susan Tepper. ” Ingredients: 1 cup long hair ….”
Whiskers, by Paul de Dunas. “He worked on in the early first light, chopping with a crooked axe at the knotted stump of oak that stubbornly grasped the ground.”

And yes, for those of you playing close attention, that is the same Shelagh Power-Chopra who wrote the Painted Lady Figure story for v2! Thanks for asking!

As always, if you want to join Fictionaut, and/or our group there, let us know, we have connections.

UNY X S.O. objects in their new home

Rob Walker — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:10:27 +0000

These just came in today — and they’re too amazing to keep to ourselves! Above: Toy Airplane + Robert Lopez Story; below, Mermaid Figurine + Tom McCarthy Story. And check out the amazing story-in-a-found-bottle presentation, courtesy of Underwater New York. Fantastic!

As it happens, both of these Significant Objects were purchased by Susan Clements, who shared these images with us. Thank you, Susan!

More Significant Objects in their new homes can be found here. Are you an S.O. owner? Please send us your pix!

Why They Cried

Rob Walker — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:44:45 +0000

Have you been reading Jim Hanas’ series, Why They Cried? You should! And not just because it culminates tomorrow with a story right here on Significant Objects.

Since Monday, he’s been posting stories in this five-story cycle on Fictionaut; it’s great stuff, a cool idea nicely executed. And while the series title sounds like a downer, the truth is these character vignettes have been clever and amusing. Check ‘em out:

Ted: Unexpectedly moved by a costume drama

Deano: Ad agency sold to holding company at low multiple

Jisette: News of actor’s nuptials

And just published:

Roy: Communion with nature.

Tune in tomorrow for the final story in the series — also the fifth story of Significant Objects v3.

Significant Ads: The Sanka Ashtray

Rob Walker — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:09:41 +0000

I meant for this to be the final post in my series on Significant Advertising (that is, ads for Significant Objects created by students Art Novak’s advertising class at the Savannah College of Art & Design), focusing on ads inspired by one of our very first stories, Sanka Ashtray + Story By Luc Sante. But it may not be: There are at least three two student creations that for various reasons I can’t get in front of you today. Update: I resolved one issue around a piece I wasn’t able to include earlier (Diana Hernanez’ Significant Ad) so I’ve updated this post on Saturday, Feb. 20.

Diana Hernandez made a very cool print ad that struck me as being really “classic” in its tone (I’m a fan of old-school print ads, like from the era before I was born). I had trouble getting that on the site earlier, but have now succeeded — that’s it, above.

Kelsy Brown also made a striking, but more modern, print ad. For technical reasons, I still can’t share that one right now.

But the other Sanka ad I do have, below, is very cool, too. It was made by Kelsey Diehl, and as you can see, it has some of that old-school flavor I’m talking about, but also tilts toward the contemporary.

(And yeah, if you’ve been keeping score, that brings the number of Kelsey/Kelsys to three.) The third other student creation I still can’t get on the site is Amber Greeson’s very cool animated Webvertising on behalf the Amoco yo-yo.

If and when I’m able to resolve the assorted issues here, I’ll share those pieces with you down the road.

Meanwhile, big thanks, and a round of applause, to Art Novak and all his students, for their very Significant advertising inventions.

Significant Ads: Yo yo más

Rob Walker — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:50:40 +0000

As I mentioned the other day in my initial post about students in Art Novak’s class at the Savannah College of Art and Design creating Significant Advertising, a surprising number chose the Amoco Yo Yo + Mark Sarvas Story as their subject. I asked why, but I knew the answer: “C’mon, dude … it’s a yo yo!”

Sometimes I overthink things. Anyway, today I present a menagerie of Significant Advertising that leaps off from that story and object. Above is a print ad made by Deaa Bataineh, suitable for, say, an art/culture magazine. Below, a couple of Flash-driven Web ads made by Maggie Russell. These got a very positive response from her classmates (and me of course).

[swfobj src="http://significantobjects.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/yo-yo-1.swf" align="center"]

Another here:

[swfobj src="http://significantobjects.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/yo-yo-3.swf" align="center" allowfullscreen="false"]

You’ve already seen Alexander Parker’s creation, also Flash-driven. One more of Ms. Russell’s ads after the jump, along with a bevy of print ad solutions to the challenge of advertising a Significant Object.

[swfobj src="http://significantobjects.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/yo-yo-2.swf" align="center" allowfullscreen="false"]

Here’s some more proposed print advertising:

Above by Nicky Bickerstaff.

Below by Michelle Wiseman.

Above by Marissa Pierce.

Below by Kelsey Heuvelman.

I was struck by how many of the print ad proposals — often featuring original art by the students — would work really well as editorial layouts. Significant Objects does a fairly good job, I think, of presenting our stories in a visually pleasing manner. But this experience was an eye-opener in terms of considering the graphic possibilities available in print formats.

Readers, what do you think about these presentations? SCAD students would love to know!

Significant Ads: The Halston Mug

Rob Walker — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:00:02 +0000

So far in discussing the creations of Art Novak’s advertising students at the Savannah College of Art Design, who devised Significant Ads for select Significant Objects as a scholarly exercise, I’ve highlighted online Flash-based inventions. But many of the students presented ideas for print ads. Above, for instance, Alan Bayoneto’s very striking and fun mag ad inspired by the Halston Mug + Mimi Lipson Story.

I wish I’d taken real notes during my classroom visit, when each student presented and explained his or her work, but the upshot here is that Mr. Bayoneto sought out imagery to echo the date of the story’s setting — 1979. I believe he was thinking of a kind of youth/fashion/art magazine as a venue, and if you can’t read the headline it says, “If they touched it, you can touch it to.” This strikes me as a cunning strategy, as it echoes the notion from Lipson’s story that this item is desirable because it was somehow proximate to the actual celebrity/art culture of that wonderfully decadent era.

As for his decision to juxtapoes that particular headline with the Halston-branded rump that is the obvious visual focus here — let’s just say that was cheeky of him.

Another student also chose this object/story as a subject. Jenna Paulette created what I should present here as a fully interactive online ad, but for various reasons I can’t quite reproduce that properly, so I’ll present the images sequentially instead:

I should note that I actually removed one of Ms. Paulette’s slides, which had suggested that this story was an excerpt from Mimi Lipson’s diary. (The story’s setup notes that it is “From AW: The Lost Diaries,” but I certainly don’t assume that a college student today is likely to guess who “AW” might be.) I think this works just as well without that slide, and is very graphically engaging — with a great finish that sells not just this story, but the whole project.

Even more great stuff still to come from Art Novak’s awesome students. Stay tuned…