Summoned Luck for Missing Numbers

Karen Kraven
Date unknown

Stripping without triggering a security light

Kianoosh Motallebi
2006-2007

Display Book Shelf

Daniel Eatock
2009

Five years ago I had photographs printed measuring about 4' wide. Each print was askew, printing a nearly imperceptible bend in the middle. It was like a visual take on a record's wow. A problem at the time, the printer gave me a credit for the mistakes. A friend suggested that I print a black band as long as the credit would afford... Up close, the print would look like a waste of money and ink; at a distance, however, the 'wow' would just be more pronounced.

British graphic designer and artist Daniel Eatock* uses the same incidental wow with his book shelf pictured above. Using MDF and the weight of too many books and insufficient support, the shelf gives in the middle. The books hint at a problem, but in leveling themselves, they boast purpose. The wow, underlying and supportive, is hushed.

*The same who created indexhibit, which can be seen here and downloaded here.

Samson

Chris Burden
1985

Green Trace

Innovo
2010

Seedlings in the tray of this pseudo-stand are grown by the used umbrellas that drip dry atop it.

Innovo, the Chinese design collective, describes Green Trace as such:

Random movements of people could influence easily life circumstances.The Chinese ancient philosophy believes that respecting the principle of nature is how humans are able to survive in this world. If the human habits follow the law of nature, they can be embodied in the products through kinds of phenomenon. When a design conforms to the natural habit of human, the product will have more vitality.

Translation: Best Umbrella Stand Ever.

Carnation

Holly Coulis
2011

When I saw this,


I immediately thought this:

When I met my friend, Lauren, for brunch last year, I brought her a peony from outside my building. The best way to tote it around was in this bottle of water. Set beside the restaurant's table piece, our resourcefulness at once signified poor etiquette but a hell of a lot of charm.

Depleting 89 marker pens that I received on the occasion of entering the computer age

Toril Johannessen
2008

Depleting is nice. Everything that could be done was done, and look what came of it.