TALISMANIC OBJECTS (INTRO)
By:
March 31, 2017
Introducing TALISMANIC OBJECTS, the second PROJECT:OBJECT volume of 2017!
Beginning tomorrow here at HILOBROW, this series of 25 posts will feature a stellar cast of writers telling 100% true stories of seemingly unremarkable objects that they carry on their person or keep on their desk or dashboard; brood about, contemplate, and ponder; fondle and fuss over; and otherwise consult on the regular.
The objects include classic charms and totems such as a token coin, a prayer card, and a healing crystal, as well as: figurines and works of art, relics of inspiring men and women, fossils and artifacts. Not to mention various trivial doo-dads, dinguses, and thingamajigs whose perplexing allure is a testament to the emotional cathexis via which the human mind attributes significance to inanimate objects.
The narratives we’ve commissioned range from the nostalgic to the inspirational, and from the weird to the wonderful. It’s a terrific story collection, and we’re very grateful to our contributors.
The TALISMANIC OBJECTS volume will roll out through the end of June. Here’s the series lineup.
Veda Hille on CROCHET SHEEP | Gary Panter on DINOSAUR BONES | Jami Attenberg on SELENITE CRYSTAL | Annie Nocenti on MINIATURE DICE | Wayne Curtis on CLOCK WINDING KEY | Judith Zissman on SPINDLE WHORL | Amy Fusselman on BOX OF PENCILS | Josh Glenn on MONKEY WHIMSEY | Mike Watt on DASHBOARD TOTEMS | Gordon Dahlquist on CLAY FOX | Mark Kingwell on ZIPPO | Jennifer Schuessler on BEER-CAN CHAIR | Anne Gisleson on WISDOM TEETH | Ben Ehrenreich on CHROME LUMP | Matthew De Abaitua on HATCHET | Ty Burr on INFLATABLE KING KONG | Jacob Covey on ARGUS COIN | Jessica Helfand on PILL BOTTLE | Shelley Jackson on IMPUNITY JANE | Jennifer Krasinski on LEO’S LIGHTER | Molly Heintz on EVIL EYE | Mark Frauenfelder on MARTIAN FINK RING | Amanda Fortini on PRAYER CARD | Ed Skoog on MAMMOTH IVORY | CONTEST-WINNING STORY: Seth on PEANUTS PAPERBACK.
Two more PROJECT:OBJECT collections — ILLICIT OBJECTS and LOST OBJECTS — will follow before the end of 2017. Stay tuned for details on those volumes, and a variety of related attractions, diversions, stunts, and spectacles still to come.
PROJECT:OBJECT is a sequel to the much-discussed quasi-anthropological SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS experiment conducted in 2009–2010 by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker, culminating in a book lavishly published by Fantagraphics in 2012. PROJECT:OBJECT will publish 100 original nonfiction stories about objects in 2017 — right here on HILOBROW — in quarterly “volumes” inspired by distinct themes. This new endeavor further extends Rob and Josh’s pioneering exploration of narrative, objects, and meaning into the realm of (often unexpected) personal significance.
Thanks to the generosity of our contributors, and to sales of limited-time-only PROJECT:OBJECT objects — including t-shirts, hoodies, totes, notebooks, and other gear at our Threadless shop — at the end of 1Q2017 we donated $500 to to the American Civil Liberties Union! We look forward to doing the same after each of the next three P:O volumes, too.
Subscribe to the PROJECT:OBJECT newsletter here.
Thanks, Jacob Covey, for the occult-ish TALISMANIC OBJECTS volume logo. And thanks, SEMIOVOX, for sponsoring PROJECT:OBJECT.
SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS at HILOBROW: PROJECT:OBJECT homepage | PROJECT:OBJECT newsletter | PROJECT:OBJECT objects (Threadless shop — all profits donated to the ACLU) | POLITICAL OBJECTS series (1Q2017) | TALISMANIC OBJECTS series (2Q2017) | ILLICIT OBJECTS series (3Q2017) | LOST OBJECTS vol. 1 series (4Q2017) | FLAIR series (2Q2018) | FOSSIL series (4Q2018). 12 DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE | 12 MORE DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE | 12 DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE (AGAIN) | ANOTHER 12 DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE . ALSO SEE: SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS website | SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS collection, ed. Rob Walker and Josh Glenn (Fantagraphics, 2012) | TAKING THINGS SERIOUSLY, ed. Josh Glenn (Princeton Architectural Press, 2007) | TAKING THINGS SERIOUSLY excerpts.
