Rob Walker's Blog, page 19
June 16, 2010
Author Updates
This is the 12th in an occasional series of updates about our project's 200-ish participating authors.
1) William Gibson's story ("'Hawk' Ashtray") for Significant Objects was named one of the "Wigleaf Top 50."
2) On June 12, Brooklyn gallery Proteus Gowanus celebrated the opening of TRANSPORT III with Underwater New York, a show featuring artwork inspired by the city's underwater landscape, ranging from paintings to letterpress prints to stories in bottles, from photographs to artifacts to...
June 15, 2010
Napkin Ring + James Hannaham Story
No. 2 of 5: Epistolary Week
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by James Hannaham, here. This is part of a series of five epistolary stories guest-curated by Ben Greenman. Proceeds from this auction will go to One Story.]
June 6, 2010
Mr. R.S. Pennyback
Dear Mr. Pennyback:
It has recently come to my attention that certain practices of your establishment, hereafter known as "Shady Acres," have affected my client, whom you know as Bethuna, in an...
June 14, 2010
Wind-up Monkey + Irina Reyn Story
Object No. 1 of 5: Epistolary Week
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Irina Reyn, here. This is part of a series of five epistolary stories guest-curated by Ben Greenman. Proceeds from this auction will go to One Story.]
To: You
From: Saskia (the Monkey)
Subject: Help Visitor From Future – Earn Riches in Afterlife
My Dear Human:
Under normal circumstances, I would never be asking you for money. We monkeys consider this an act of coarseness, a vile human quality. But extreme...
Epistolary Week, Introduced by Ben Greenman
Dear Significant Objects Readers and Prospective Significant Objects Buyers,
My new book of stories, What He's Poised To Do (Harper Perennial, June 20), is about letters and letter-writing. In the stories, people use letters to embrace other people, or to keep them at arm's length, or to express reality, or to evade it. Letters are highly significant things in each and every story, from a series of devotional pieces a young Cuban writes to the woman he loves (in a story called "Hope") to...
June 13, 2010
Significant Tweets for Week Ending 2010-06-13
June 12, 2010
Author Updates
This is the 11th in an occasional series of updates about our project's nearly 200 (and counting) participating authors.
BUT FIRST, SOME NEWS ABOUT SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS:
* Earlier this week, we announced the details of the forthcoming Significant Objects book, which will be published by Fantagraphics.
* On Monday, we'll kick off a special Epistolary Week here on Significant Objects — five stories, curated by Ben Greenman, whose new book, What He's Poised To Do, boasts stories in the form of...
June 10, 2010
Coming Monday: Epistolary Week, Guest-Curated by Ben Greenman!
Readers, you've waited patiently for new Significant Objects and stories, while we squared away some of the preliminary details on our forthcoming book, and labored to complete a few of the various unrelated tasks that enable us to pay our bills. We appreciate that patience, and we have Good news!
We have a special week of all-new stories, starting Monday.
Three-time S.O. contributor Ben Greenman has stepped up as a guest-curator of a special Epistolary Week. Ben has a book out this month, a
June 9, 2010
Fantagraphics to publish Significant Objects Story Collection!
SEATTLE, WA — Since its debut, Significant Objects, the bold online inquiry into the relationship between narrative and the value of everyday objects, has been the subject of speculation by everyone from NPR to litbloggers to The New York Times' Freakonomics crew. Some theorized about the project's hypothesis, others about its methods and results.
Some just wanted to know: Will there be a book?
This last question can now be answered: Yes!
A collection of one hundred Significant Objects stories, ...
June 6, 2010
Significant Tweets for Week Ending 2010-06-06
June 5, 2010
Significant Objects Meme (11)
The Index — a storefront gallery in Brooklyn — is a collection of materials and objects whose purposes, characters, and origins are fascinating to curator Jonathan Roquemaure. As Cool Hunting recently explained:
While each object's uncommon looks are compelling enough on first blush, the history behind their materials and past utility often requires a little digging. Reflecting Roquemaure's own ingenuity in finding and learning, his catalog comprises a carefully considered index of...
