Many art objects are intended to be controversial, thought-provoking or disturbing. For that reason, a piece of art has to be particularly unusual to be brought up by the Owl.
The Book of Js qualifies.
It is not a standard art piece, in that it is a book, published in a limited edition of 200 copies. It’s not uncommon for books to have a limitation of 200 copies or fewer. That said, it’d be difficult for anyone to classify this as anything other than an art piece, as the only letter inside the book is “J”.
Not even different sizes and colors of “J’, the way one might find in a children’s book. Rather, the letter J, sometimes written in reverse, sometimes upside-down, sometimes upside-down AND reversed.
The book will run you about $150. You can find one here, if you’re so inclined. The site linked sells rare recordings, which might lead a person to wonder if there’s an audio edition of the Book of Js… and, in fact there is. The book comes with a record, also produced in a quantity of 200.
The recording is of the author, Jose Luis Castillejo, writing the book of Js. That’s all… just the sound of him writing.
Not anyone can get paid for doing something like that. I’m still at a loss as to why even one person did.
Question of the night: what’s a book you wish you’d written?
