So what?

November 14, 2009 10:28 PM

STEP 1 Buy 100 pieces of crap from thrift stores and garage sales.
STEP 2 Get 100 authors to write a fiction about pieces of crap.
STEP 3 ???
STEP 4 Profit!
Significant Objects hosts the stories for all 100 pieces of crap/art, but the last six are still available for bidding: Blue Vase by Lauren Mechling, Umbrella Trinket by Bruce Holland Rogers, Lighter Shaped Like a Small Pool Ball by Rob Agredo, Bar Mitzvah Bookends by Stacey Levine, Geisha Bobblehead by Edward "ed" Champion, and Missouri Shotglass by Jonathan Lethem.
posted by carsonb (12 comments total)

goddam baseball mitt, descriptive as hell
posted by mattoxic at 10:49 PM on November 14

In this case, step 3 isn't needed. This is a brilliant idea, well executed.
posted by milnak at 11:00 PM on November 14

Bruce Sterling tweeted about his contribution a while back and I was sorry to find out it was fiction.
posted by ooga_booga at 11:56 PM on November 14

I've never been a photo guy. By that I mean I've never taken photographs to remember things, I am however a collector of oddities. I have dozens of rocks, costume jewelry, hats, toys, and other knick-nacks. I keep many of them in boxes and pull them out every once in awhile and remember things that have past.

I have one particular rock that is round, brown, and generally ugly - some folks tell me that it's a geode. There are supposed to be beautiful crystals that have formed inside it, but I'll never know - because I'm not going to open it up. But is always sitting on my desk. It's a koan, on my desk. Everybody needs a desk koan.
posted by bigmusic at 12:15 AM on November 15 [1 favorite has favorites]

Are you looking for a way to raise money to print the completed book? I'd look at the procedures and cost of self-publishing at Amazon then go to Kickstarter.com to raise the funds you need.
posted by marckadrian at 1:06 AM on November 15

@bigmusic -- your "might be a geode" is reminiscent of Schrodinger's Cat. The cat might be alive, might not; you might have a geode, or there might be a cat inside...
posted by marckadrian at 1:10 AM on November 15

I have one particular rock that is round, brown, and generally ugly

But does it keep the tigers away?
posted by DreamerFi at 2:44 AM on November 15

Really, really good idea.
posted by fire&wings at 3:37 AM on November 15

The cat might be alive, might not; you might have a geode, or there might be a cat inside...

It's probably a dead cat. I haven't fed that rock in years.

BTW, welcome to metafilter. Glad to have ya. A point of contention that you probably aren't aware of is using the @ symbol to address people in metafilter. Most folks here think it's akin to using all caps (yelling) or disruptive to threads. Most folks would prefer a "marckadin: blah, blah blah" or even just italicize a persons prior comment.
posted by bigmusic at 4:35 AM on November 15

This project gets at the heart of a problem I've always had with the definition of art. Is it art only if someone else buys it? Does crap become art if I can sell it to someone?
posted by birdwatcher at 4:41 AM on November 15

This is fun--this is a really neat idea, and writing about crappy found objects, which we’ll never run out of, allows the project flexibility to remain interesting and fresh. But I'm with milnak, step 3 is gimmicky and adds an unnecessary comedy rim shot instantly converting the experience from something unique to something ubiquitous.

And what birdwatcher said.
posted by applemeat at 7:09 AM on November 15

The Missouri Shotglass story makes a big mistake. We're totally ambivalent about Iowa. It's Kansas that has gotten Missourians all in a tizzy for the last 150 years.
posted by joechip at 12:38 PM on November 15