Rob Walker's Blog, page 51
October 22, 2009
"Fake Banana" story runner-up
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; we first read them in b/w.) The "Fake Banana" cartoon runner-up is by Jon Fine. Enjoy!
October 21, 2009
Dilbert Stress Toy
Object No. 84 of 100
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Betsey Swardlick, here. This story is the third in a three-part series produced in collaboration with The Center for Cartoon Studies. ]
October 20, 2009
Alien Toy
Object No. 83 of 100
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Nomi Kane, here. This story is the second in a three-part series produced in collaboration with The Center for Cartoon Studies. ]
October 19, 2009
Fake Banana
No. 82 of 100
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Josh Kramer, here. This story is the first in a three-part series produced in collaboration with The Center for Cartoon Studies. ]
Weekly Project Update: Comix Collaboration AND Slate Contest Winner Coming Up
Basketball Trophy (Cintra Wilson story). Click to read what its new owner has to say.
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 series, three objects will be infused with Significance by young hotshot practitioners of "sequential art," a/k/a comics. This team-up has been i...
October 16, 2009
Thai Hooks
Object No. 81 of 100
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Bruno Maddox, here.]
Did she love me? Nah. Did I love her? Yeah. So I got her this wooden map of Thailand with four hooks sticking out. Figured she could use it to hang items on — you know, in her future life. Whether or not she chose to let me be a part of that.
I wrapped it up best I could. Frank's cologne came in some green tissue paper which I tried using first, but the hooks and the peninsula kept poking through, or...
October 15, 2009
Fish Spoons
Object No. 80 of 100
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Mark Doty, here.]
As a young man I read a poem I've never run across again since. I found it in the school library. If you already knew what you wanted in this haphazard collection, you were sunk, but if you spent time pulling things off the high, not-much-visited steps, you could get lucky.
The poem was Anglo-Saxon, a riddle, and it had to do with cold armor that never clanked, with chain mail that moved with a strange...
Story Contest reminder — Deadline approaching!
Patiently awaiting your Significance.
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 esteemed partner in this venture is none other than Slate.com. All stories must be submitted to Slate (details below). A panel of judges consisting of Slate editors and SignificantObjects.com's Rob Walker and Josh...
October 14, 2009
Windsurfing Trophy/Statue
Object No. 79 of 100
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Naomi Novik, here. ]
Found at the base of a street lamp near Madison Square Park, beneath a rain-bleached photocopy with a picture of the same object, in black and white halftones but recognizable. Beneath the picture it said IF Found PLEASE RETURN. The bottom edge of the poster was ragged where all the small strips with phone numbers had been torn away, and the strip of tape holding it to the pole was peeling up from the...
Sailboat Statue
Object No. 79 of 100
[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Naomi Novik, here. ]
Found at the base of a street lamp near Madison Square Park, beneath a rain-bleached photocopy with a picture of the same object, in black and white halftones but recognizable. Beneath the picture it said IF Found PLEASE RETURN. The bottom edge of the poster was ragged where all the small strips with phone numbers had been torn away, and the strip of tape holding it to the pole was peeling up from the...
