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May 31, 2005
22 Down, 30 To Go (52 Books 52 Weeks)
The Big Bento Box of Unuseless Inventions is an amazing collection of pop art. Kenji Kawakami creates Chindogu, inventions that follow ten tenets:
1. A Chindogu cannot be for real use
2. A Chindogu must exist
3. Inherent in every Chindogu is the spirit of anarchy
4. Chindogu are tools for everyday life
5. Chindogu are not for sale
6. Humour must not be the sole reason for creating a Chindogu
7. Chindogu is not propaganda
8. Chindogu are never taboo
9. Chindogu cannot be patented
10. Chindogu are without prejudice
The resulting inventions photographed in this book range from earplug earrings to Swiss army gloves. The book is filled with cleverness, and was enjoyable from the first page to the last. An immensely fun book, I will be giving this as a gift to several friends this year.
My next book is Drop Dead Cute, a collection of ten cutting edge female Japanese artists.
