Significant Objects

Significant Tweets for Week Ending 2010-02-07

7. February 2010

History of science fiction fandom: Useful MeFi links. http://bit.ly/cylDXh # Next week we team up with Underwater New York, some amazing found objects, stories be a great writer team. Details: http://bit.ly/b7Dohs # The Reanimation Library in Brooklyn: “a collection of books that have fallen out of mainstream circulation.” http://bit.ly/Fe6wA # T-shirts featuring retired book-cover designs: http://www.outofprintclothing.com/Shop_a/152.htm Via Listenerd [...]

Significant Objects X Underwater New York

5. February 2010

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Next week, we close out Significant Objects Volume 2, our cycle of 50 stories and auctions, with proceeds going to 826 National. And to go out with a bang, we have an extraordinary team-up to announce: We’ve joined forces with Underwater New York to bring you five stories about things found on the beach of Dead [...]

Which exposition strategy adds the most value?

4. February 2010

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Our experiment has answered the question of whether narrative adds measurable value to near-worthless tchotchkes with an emphatic YES. But how does narrative do so? Is every form of narrative exposition, for example, equally effective in encouraging the reader to regard a thrift-store castoff as somehow meaningful? Apparently not. We’ve determined that in the 100 stories [...]

Significant owner meets Significant author

3. February 2010

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We always love it when our buyers send us pictures of their Significant Objects in their new homes, or add such pictures to our Owners’ Flickr Pool. Here’s a recent, and distinctly awesome, example: Jeannie and Trifin Roule have acquired several Significant Objects since this project began, including this, the Hand-Held Bubble Blower + Story by [...]

Significant Tweets for 2010-01-31

31. January 2010

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Nice note from the folks at 826 Michigan, with special shout-out to Nicholas Rombes (@NicholasRombes). http://bit.ly/bGInJV # Nice note from cyberscribbles, “It’s good reading, too.” Love hear that. http://bit.ly/aY0yHR # The Mystery Object sold for $103.50. Significant! Object revealed here: http://bit.ly/bSTUzD # I like this item because it refers to our (pre-Significant) objects as “dust collectors.” http://bit.ly/cg8rGg #

Wish List: Vintage Accutron “Astronaut” Watch

31. January 2010

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If you happen to have one you’re not using, please consider donating it to Significant Objects. *** This is the second in an irregular series of posts aimed at raising awareness, among the Significant Objects readership, of the project curators’ wants and needs.

Significant fake branding

30. January 2010

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Here’s yet another twist on adding an invented narrative to a seemingly low-value thingamabob: Designer Matt Brown bought a pack of 15 plastic horses for a couple of bucks. Then he dreamed up a name for each one, then packaging, reconceptualizing his two-dollar purchase as a line of toys, Night Horses, that were introduced in the [...]

The Mystery Object Revealed! Story-As-Object To Follow

29. January 2010

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Congratulations to Paula Newman, for scoring The Mystery Object with Story By Ben Greenman, with a $103.50 bid! The auction’s final 30 seconds were pretty exciting. So what is it? The answer below the fold, as they say. The wily curators of Significant Objects will now follow up this story-without-a-known-object with a story that in a sense [...]

Mystery Object: To be revealed tomorrow

28. January 2010

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[Tomorrow the auction for Mystery Object with story by Ben Greenman will conclude. When it's over, we'll reveal the object (first to the winning bidder, then to everybody else). Meanwhile, here is my case (borrowed from Murketing.com) for this as arguably the most significant Significant Object to date.] The Significant Objects project has conclusively demonstrated that [...]

Short-Short Fiction Contest!

27. January 2010

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Over at Hilobrow.com, a critical-culture website that I coedit with Matthew Battles, we’ve just invited our readers to enter a science-fiction short-short story contest. We’d be delighted to have Significant Objects readers enter, as well. Check it out. CONTEST DEADLINE: February 15 (soon!) STORY LENGTH: No more than 250 words STORY THEME: troubled and/or troubling superhumans THE JUDGES: Hilobrow.com [...]

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Significant Tweets for Week Ending 2010-02-07

Significant Objects X Underwater New York

Which exposition strategy adds the most value?

Significant owner meets Significant author

Significant Tweets for 2010-01-31

Wish List: Vintage Accutron “Astronaut” Watch

Significant fake branding

The Mystery Object Revealed! Story-As-Object To Follow

Mystery Object: To be revealed tomorrow

Short-Short Fiction Contest!

* S.O. v2 — for 826 National

S.O. v1 — the EXPERIMENT