1. Although we might not approve of every use to which their new owners have put our ex-insignificant objects [that’s the Cape Cod Shoe, above], we encourage them to send us photos of the objects in their new contexts. Or … Continue reading
Benjamen Walker’s always excellent WFMU show, “Theory of Everything” is about Significant Objects today. It’s on right now! Check it out.
Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $111.03 Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $2,718.22 Coming up this week: Yes, yes, the Slate contest winner. Sorry for the delay! Recent reactions from elsewhere: Jawbone.TV assesses the project (and its relationship to advertising, among … Continue reading
As you know, the winners of all our auctions receive a copy of their Significant Object’s invented story. Usually that story is told only in words, so presentation is straightforward: a printout. The objects for sale now in our shop … Continue reading
Earlier this month, when we announced that Slate was hosting a fiction contest to select one of the 100 stories we’d publish as part of the Significant Objects project, we figured that it would only take a couple of days … Continue reading
Back in mid-September, we paused to assess our list of published stories (and concluded auctions) to see which 10 objects have sold for the most money to date. In part this was to see if the exercise would help us … Continue reading
Last month, in an update, I explained our Significant Object categorization scheme: a FOSSIL is an object that bears witness to a vanished era or way of life (including childhood); an object that played a role in a crime or … Continue reading
Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $101.05. Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $2,434.22 Coming up this week: In yet another astoundingly cool collaboration, Significant Objects teams up this week with The Center For Cartoon Studies. That’s right — in a special … Continue reading
Don’t sleep, people: The deadline for our Significant Objects Story Contest is fast approaching: Submit a 500-word story featuring the object pictured above (a barbecue sauce jar) by Friday Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. That’s tomorrow! As a reminder, our … Continue reading
You requested an opportunity to write a story for SignificantObjects.com, so here it is: the Significant Objects Story Contest! Submit a 500-word story featuring the object pictured above (a barbecue sauce jar) by next Friday (Oct. 16) at 5 p.m., … Continue reading
Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $90.97 Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $2,141.62 Coming up this week: I’m already a day late with this Weekly Update, so I’ll skip the other formalities and say that this Friday there should be a … Continue reading
Forgot to mention that we passed $2,000 in sales with the auction of the Cigarette Case + Margot Livesey story. That went for $33.77, putting our grand total at the end of Tuesday at $2,023.96 (for 64 items we purchased … Continue reading
Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $82.39 Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $1,968.69. Coming up this week: Object Nos. 68 through 72 (of 100), with Significance added by Stephanie Reents, William Gibson, and others. Posting soon: Ben Katchor. Still on auction: … 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
Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $77.07 Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $1,851.45 Coming up this week: Object Nos. 63 through 67 (of 100), with Significance added by Margot Livesey, Matthew Klam, and others. Posting soon: J. Robert Lennon Still on … Continue reading
Yesterday we published our 62nd story, and closed our 57th auction. I mention this because maybe you’ve been thinking the number of Significant Objects will be infinite, that this experiment will continue indefinitely. Neither of these is the case. There … 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
