Significant Objects published a three-part series of cartoon stories in collaboration with The Center for Cartoon Studies. Today, instead of publishing a new Significant Objects story, we’re going to post three runners-up. (Note that only the three finalists were colored; … Continue reading
It occurs to me that you could set a table with the 16-odd items of dishware that our participating authors have so brilliantly and entertainingly significated. Here’s what such a table might look like. PLATES & SAUCERS The narrator of … Continue reading
Think you can write a great 500-word story in which the item pictured above (a BBQ Sauce Jar) features significantly? You’ll get an opportunity to do so, soon. A well-known online magazine is going to judge a Significant Objects fiction … Continue reading
Will our particular usage of the phrase “significant object” outlive the SO project? Might people browsing thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets in the future pick up certain items and muse, “Hmmm… looks like a significant object.” And if … Continue reading
Out of curiosity, we recently went through our list of published stories so far to see which 10 objects have sold for the most money to date. We long ago proved that this experiment works — the stories we’ve published … Continue reading
This past July and August, Rob and I spent many hours visiting thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets in search of objects for this project. We imposed only a few curatorial restraints on ourselves: e.g., nothing above $4, no … Continue reading
The following is excerpted from an article published today in the Chicago Tribune. Reporter: Christopher Borrelli. I have never placed a bid on eBay, but I was tempted the other day by a listing for a red wooden mallet. I … Continue reading
Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $60.50. Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $1,478.54. Coming up this week: Objects with Significance added by Sari Wilson and Sloane Crosley. Posted earlier this week: object-oriented stories by Sung J. Woo, Todd Levin, and Rosecrans … Continue reading
One of my favorite objects, so far, is the Toy Hot Dog about which Jenny Davidson wrote on July 8. My sentiment is of the punk or camp variety, I guess: after all, hot dogs are already grotesque, and wooden … Continue reading
Scenes from the mailroom of Significant Objects…
The following Q&A, with Significant Objects co-director Rob Walker, was published earlier this month by Good Magazine. Interviewer: Patrick James. Make Believe Mementos: Significant Objects turns cast-aside knickknacks into sought-after heirlooms — through the power of fiction. Rob Walker and … Continue reading
The following Q&A, with Significant Objects co-director Joshua Glenn, and project participant Matthew Sharpe, was published earlier this week by Jacket Copy, the Los Angeles Times’ literature/publishing blog. Interviewer: Carolyn Kellogg. One man’s trash is another man’s fictional treasure JC: … Continue reading
Announcement: We’ve just posted a page dedicated to the Significant Objects project’s press clippings. We’ll keep it updated. Earlier this week, Rob Walker posted an update in which he noted (among other things) that several journalists and bloggers have commented … Continue reading
THE IDEA A talented, creative writer invents a story about an object. Invested with new significance by this fiction, the object should — according to our hypothesis — acquire not merely subjective but objective value. How to test our theory? … Continue reading
