Rob Walker's Blog, page 46

The Significant Objects Mug Mug

We better not find one of these in a thrift store any time soon.

In response to email and queries in this site's comments about buying a Significant Objects Mug (i.e., because of our project's mug logo, which Joe Alterio whipped up for us in a hurry when we suddenly decided to retire our original logo, a Salvation Army shield parody), we did a little research and found that manufacturing an actual red mug takes a bit more savvy than we now possess. We're looking into that and welcome your...

Ladies and Gentlemen: the Data

Well, folks, here it is. A comprehensive rundown of the entire S.O. 100, ranked by final selling price. Thanks to this neat-o plug-in, you can also adjust the chart to see it ranked by the price we paid for each object. We're scrutinizing for patterns — and anomalies — and welcome your thoughts.

Obviously we do not think these rankings reflect the quality of the stories, as creative expression or literature. Rather our hypothesis involves a narrative's ability to make an object Significant...

We're back!

As announced last week, we're busily retooling Significant Objects as a charitable fundraising effort. We've assigned half a dozen objects to new writers, and we've already lined up a couple dozen more contributors, new and returning, too. Later this week, we'll announce (a) which charity will be supported by the first round of Significant Objects auction proceeds, and (b) how long the first round will last. We're thinking: 50 objects. Your suggestions and encouragement are welcomed.

ALSO: In ...

And then there were none…

But ... we'll be back.

A few moments ago, the auction for our 100th item (the Missouri Shotglass, story courtesy of Jonathan Lethem) ended. Moment of silence, please. The research phase of the Significant Objects experiment is over; next, we'll analyze the data. And while we're doing that, we'll relaunch the project as a charitable fundraising effort — stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, here's an overview of the experiment.

Between July 6 (1st story posted) and November 20 (100th...

Is this a shoutout?

Today's installment of Dorothy Gambrell's popular webcomic Cat and Girl riffs on significant objects:

The last Significant Object… (well, for now)

It's really weird to look at our store and see just one item!

But there it is: Missouri Shot Glass + Story by Jonathan Lethem. And the auction closes in less than 24 hours … who will end up with the last of the original Significant Objects?

After that auction closes we'll start crunching the numbers and share some findings with you next week, from our unique experiment. (With the close of today's auction we passed $3,500 in sales. Not a bad Significance Markup on roughly $125 worth of...

Intrinsic Appeal

Shown above: ready-to-mail boxes containing the last three objects from the Significant Objects experiment, along with a few odds and ends that didn't end up being assigned to a writer during the duration of the experiment. There are currently two items remaining in our eBay account. Act now!

Shown below: our Nutcracker with Troll Hair. Intrinsically appealing, right? To see it is to imagine owning it forever, displaying it under a glass dome, perhaps passing it down to your grandchildren. At ...

Last chance! Only three items left.

Check it out. There are only three items remaining in Significant Objects' eBay shop. Once the bidding for these objects ends, the Significant Objects experiment will be over…

But the Significant Objects project — of which the experiment was only the first (though critical) phase — will continue! As tentatively suggested in a few posts last week, we've decided to continue Significant Objects as a charitable fundraising effort. We're busy lining up contributors (new and old) this week, and we h...

Insignificant Object

In the months before we published the 100th story in our Significant Objects experiment, many of you clicked on an author's name — in the Contributors list, at the right-hand side of this page — and found yourself directed to an Object Coming Soon page. The page announced: "We haven't posted this particular object, and its associated story, yet. But we will soon!" The following photo, taken in my living room, illustrated the Object Coming Soon page:

The stuff shown in this photo was collected ...

Thanks…

Leftover.*

Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for visiting, reading, and spreading the word about Significant Objects. Yesterday we posted our 100th and final story — one by Jonathan Lethem. We couldn't be happier with how it's all turned out. Although we launched without fanfare in July, last month some 18,000 unique visitors viewed over 130,000 pages. (This month, the flood of traffic actually crashed our server for a few days.) As of Friday we've auctioned off $118.95 worth of...