1000 Extra/Ordinary Objects (review)

This book was made for paging through, not for extended reading. It is a flashy catalog of bizarre yet believably functional stuff, such as an Ethiopian ear-cleaning spoon; paper made from recycled elephant dung; two mittens blending into one so that Norwegian lovers can hold hands even in winter; fried bull's testicles (a delicacy for males, this book claims, in South America); a scrap metal briefcase from Senegal, its surface decorated with flattened soda cans and old newspapers; Japanese toilet paper with English language lessons printed on it; and spiked boots for cowboy golfers. In addition to these, there are hundreds of other useful unfamiliar tools, curios, gadgets and so on from throughout the world, each with a color illustration and a brief description. Appropriately, this baffling and often amusing array of "artifacts of cultural identity" was co-produced by Colors Magazine (whose motto is "diversity is good"), and Taschen, a German book publisher known for the quality and affordability of its art-and-design-related titles—books that, like the objects here, are both eccentric and extraordinary. For other books by Taschen, see <www.taschen.com>.

(Reprinted by permission from Ballast Quarterly Review,Vol. 16, No. 4, Summer 2001.)