1000 Extra, Ordinary Objects

by Colors Magazine

Dirt cupcake mix, as American as apple pie. Nipple lightener from Japan. Tick juice, indispensable in Venezuela for black magic love rituals. Sunglasses from Zimbabwe with shades cut from plastic juice bottles and no lenses. Korean disposable straw sandals made especially for mourners and corpses. Is this stuff cool or what? But wait--there's more. Flip through this book in search of international weirdness, and it's a pretty sure bet you'll wind up absorbing some sobering information about sex, death, destruction, poverty, and the arrogant ways of multinationals. Under the guise of an ultrahip consumer's guide to the world's nifty stuff--divided into sections labeled "Food," "Fashion," "Animals," "Body," "Soul" and "Leisure"--1000 Extra/Ordinary Objects is a subversive crusader for human rights and ecological awareness.

Sure, you can find out how to buy your very own Dom Perignon-flavored sorbet or a CD of "Music for Healthy Pets." But you'll also stumble upon objects like the cute little bright green Russian-made PFM-1 antipersonnel mine, "a favorite toy of generations of Afghan children" punished for their curiosity by a double whammy of liquid explosive and tiny blades. On other pages, seemingly innocuous objects--like the sweetly lumpy doll couples made of tree bark by Elliot Chitungu of Zimbabwe--turn out to have a bitter subtext. (Chitungu, who is gay, makes all his couples heterosexual; in his country, homosexuality is a criminal offense.) Other objects are examples of savvy recycling, like the paper made in Malawi from elephant dung and recycled cardboard.

With straightforward descriptions in both English and French, unblinking photographs of young people modeling even the most outré objects, and a Yellow Pages that includes information about little-known charitable organizations worldwide, this is a fun book with a heart of gold. --Cathy Curtis

Genres: Art, Design, Nonfiction

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather fun book full of objects with descriptions in English and French, and with an introduction by Peter Gabriel. These objects can tell a lot about us, and of certain time in history – this book’s stuff is from around 2000/2005, so in some cases history has marched on a little. These are some examples of things familiar, funny, odd, creepy… things that promise things but won’t deliver it, uncomfortable-to-use ones, dangerous ones too (hello landmines), and silly things.

How much of these are really used, and what geographical/culture/gender/faith etc. limits for the use of some are. Some are clearly inventions with limited success changes. With some objects one learns some interesting facts also, like where Jell-O’s gelatin comes from, how some land mines explodes, how the exact ingredients of cigarettes is still a secret and how it can vary from brand to brand, that playing with marbles was forbidden by the Taliban.

Objects are organised in groups:
- eating: food & drunk, tools, containers
- clothes, accessories, make-ups, looks-tools, sex aiders
- ones with animal connection (incl. those about pets)
- body-related (health, sex, etc.)
- belief and mental (incl.some health)
- leisure (incl. toys, clothes, souvenirs)

Some examples: a traveler’s blood bag, canned Barbie-brand food, Hitler wine, a KKK doll, pubic wig, blood-type condoms (from Japan), cowboy boot urn, roadkill taste-enhancer sauce, Hello Kitty credit card, skunk perfume, nipple lightener cream, hayfever glasses, foreskin restorer, Tiffany & Co.’s sterling silver bubble blower, a Zapatista figurine…

The book is a bit heavy to hold, but there’s a lot of objects to look at (so reading might take a while), and the photos are done in the true COLORS style. Reading this was more entertaining and informative than I thought it would be, so I would say it was well worth the read.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting for 5 minutes.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book to browse through when you just want to switch off and be amused

[Hank · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, open picture book. Definitely a good pickup for a coffee table discussion piece.

[Jeannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting look at many things I never even knew existed. Book is full of full cover photos.