Rob Walker's Blog, page 27
April 7, 2010
April 6, 2010
Homies Figurines + Ron Currie Jr. Story
Object No. 32 of 50 — Significant Objects v3
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Ron Currie Jr, here. This is part of a collection curated for Significant Objects by Paola Antonelli, and co-published on Core77.com. Proceeds from this auction go to Girls Write Now.]
They were a silly thing to get so obsessive about, in retrospect. What can I say? I was in my early twenties, so I imagined my fixation on Homies would come off as a moderately hip eccentricity. Like, "He's cool enough...
April 5, 2010
SARS Mask + Helen DeWitt Story
Object No. 31 of 50 — Significant Objects v3.
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Helen DeWitt, here. This is part of a collection curated for Significant Objects by Paola Antonelli, and co-published on Core77.com. Proceeds from this auction go to Girls Write Now.]
I need an agent to deal with my agent. This was the thought. Bill was to be the buffer: Jonathan is a pathological liar, I am a pathological truthteller, and Bill was to be the man-in-the-middle, the go-between, the Janus ...
This week: Significant Objects X Paola Antonelli
[Editors' note: This week Jim Shepard, Scarlett Thomas, Ron Currie Jr., Helen DeWitt, and Matt Brown will give Significance to objects picked out for and donated to us by Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design for the Museum of Modern Art. As fans of her exhibitions ranging from Humble Masterpieces to Safe to Design and the Elastic Mind, we were thrilled to have her curate a week for us. Her statement follows.]
Curated by Paola Antonelli
I remember the day I realized that m...
April 4, 2010
Significant Tweets for Week Ending 2010-04-04
April 3, 2010
v3 home stretch highlights: Core77, The Believer, other partners and special events galore!
So, time for an update on where we stand on Significant Objects v3 — and a preview of what's still to come. Yesterday we closed the 25th auction (Tiny Jar of Mayonnaise + Rick Moody Story, part of our Electric Literature team-up), and with that we've raised $773.43 for Girls Write Now. That's not bad, but we can do better. Let's do better! Here's some of what we've got up our metaphorical sleeve:
Starting Monday, we'll be publishing a week of stories about a special set of objects curated for...April 2, 2010
Egg Whisk + Sari Cunningham Story
Object No. 30 of 50 -- Significant Objects v3
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Sari Cunningham, here. This story emerged from the Significant Objects Group on Fictionaut. Proceeds from this auction go to Girls Write Now.]
Two days after his bypass surgery she walked in on the nurse adjusting his catheter and dispensing dietary advice. "No more omelets," and then a playful laugh, cut short by her entrance. She studied the nurse. Asian. Young. A plain oval face, opaque except for a...
Later today: Our second Fictionaut-created story!
Now Significant
A while back we added the second object to our Fictionaut Group, where any member of Fictionaut's vast and thriving writer/reader community could have a go at making it Significant. The object was an Egg Whisk.
We got a great batch of stories. We asked for your feedback; we compiled information from Fictionaut's feedback system; we added our own evaluations. All of this was flowed into a proprietary algorithm and fed through our definitive Vista 2.0 Significance-Decider. And we ...
April 1, 2010
Coil of Orange Paper + Carole Maso Story
Object No. 29 of 50 — Significant Objects v3
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Carole Maso, here. Proceeds from this auction go to Girls Write Now.]
The sun was rising and the tips of the trees, backlit, began to glow. The day commenced, dipped in fire. From her window she could see a saffron ribbon winding its way through the park.
As it moved closer now she saw it was a human thread– a line of monks, and she smiled.
She stayed seated and did not move, for she did not want to...
March 31, 2010
Shark and Seal Pens + Susanna Daniel story
Object No. 28 of 50 — Significant Objects v3
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Susanna Daniel, here. Proceeds from this auction go to Girls Write Now.]
In the game of water polo, the goalie must be strong enough to rise from the water and stay vertical without sinking, to track the ball and lunge for it. This was the position I played for one season, when I was a sophomore in high school. I tried out because Stacia Kaminski mentioned me to Coach Mackey, and he called me in.
My...
