Significant Objects Meme (7)
From the MediaBistro blog Unbeige, on April 5: Here’s the Saved by Droog site.
Significant Objects Meme (6)
Tila Tequila’s garage sale — very telling. Here’s a person who obviously has never invested any object with narrative significance.
Kickstarting COCKY
I recently mentioned a micro-fiction contest over at my other website, HiLobrow. Significant Objects readers are welcome to enter; deadline is the 31st. I also wanted to note that HiLobrow is hoping to serialize, and then print a funny, tragic, … Continue reading
Significant Objects Meme (5)
Check out this New York Magazine slideshow titled “A History of Obama Feigning Interest in Mundane Things.” This sort of thing is the flip side of the Significant Objects Meme! From now on, instead of “More Cowbell,” I want hipsters … Continue reading
Another Radium-Age SF story contest!
In January, I announced a micro-fiction contest over at HiLobrow.com, an intellectual/literary website that I edit with Matthew Battles. We recently appointed Patrick Cates the site’s Magister Ludi (Master of Games), and yesterday Mr. Cates announced a second micro-fiction contest. … Continue reading
Significant Objects Meme (4)
Obsessive Consumption: What Did you Buy Today? (Princeton Architectural Press, 2010), by Kate Bingaman-Burt, represents a selection of three years’ worth of the author’s annotated drawings of her purchases — including wedding bands, beer, a dog, and, of course, drawing … Continue reading
Announcing the SO Challenge: Spot the Patterns!
Years ago, when I was (briefly) a grad student in Sociology, at Boston University, I discovered that positivist science doesn’t offer satisfactory models for synthesizing a cluster of elements that resist reduction to a common denominator, generative first principle, or … Continue reading
The Tool to Deceive and Slaughter
We’ve mentioned a few other art projects that use eBay as a platform or medium. The idea-based artist Caleb Larsen’s A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter is a fun one. It’s a significant object — a sculpture, supposedly, though it looks … Continue reading
Significant Objects Meme (3)
*** READ MORE about the Significant Objects Meme.
Significant Objects Meme (2)
*** READ MORE about the Significant Objects Meme.
Hilobrow micro-fiction contest winner
Last month, I announced a micro-fiction contest (about troubled and troubling superhumans) over at Hilobrow.com. The contest began on Jan. 26, 2010 and ended on Feb. 15. We have a winner! Matthew Battles, Matthew De Abaitua, and I selected Charles … Continue reading
Hot vs. Cool
In Marshall McLuhan’s pioneering 1964 study, Understanding Media, the Canadian philosopher, literary critic, and communication theorist argued that “hot” media don’t require much work on our part when it comes to determining meaning; “cool” media, however, require us to participate … Continue reading
Only two SO v2 objects left!
Check it out. This Friday the 19th, we’ll officially wrap up the second volume of Significant Objects. This is your LAST CHANCE to bid on an object from SO v2, proceeds from which will be donated to 826 National. SPECIAL … Continue reading
Which exposition strategy adds the most value?
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 … Continue reading
Wish List: Vintage Accutron “Astronaut” Watch
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’ … Continue reading
Short-Short Fiction Contest!
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: … Continue reading
Significant Objects — the meme
There’s no doubt about it. A significant-objects meme has emerged in US culture, recently. I’m not just talking about Orhan Pamuk’s museum. Over at Fast Company, William Bostwick writes: “Maybe it’s the recession (it’s always the recession), but we seem … Continue reading
Wish List: Molotov Cocktail Toy
Readers, if you have this remarkable toy in your possession — with or without the original packaging — please consider donating it to Significant Objects. We’ve got a spot reserved for it on our knick-knack shelf already. *** This is … Continue reading
