99objects
99objects is a book, or rather, a series of books, each consisting of 99 pages that describe an object in all its variations, one for each page. A collection of 99 objects in total. Souvenir ashtrays, slide viewers, letter seals, ceramics, orange envelopes, and video games are selected and catalogued by PetriPaselli, the Bolognese artistic duo behind this project.
99objects is therefore a project that investigates the world of the most diverse collectible objects .
Every collector creates a different reality, a very peculiar dimension with its own unique rules and dynamics. Every collectible is different from the others.
With 99objects, PetriPaselli doesn't want to emphasize the aesthetic or typical museum presentation; in fact, their idea is precisely to propose collections that show objects as they are, in their unique and primordial form, without ornamentation or embellishment, even without explanatory notes. According to the artistic duo, the object speaks and should speak for itself, not because of its position or its surrounding context. Stickers, glasses, badges, sand, corkscrews, bottle caps, enemas, watches, buttons, cigarettes, matches, sugar packets, souvenirs.
The list of collections could go on indefinitely, but the number 99 defines the project and provides a deadline. 99 pages for 99 objects and the goal of reaching 99 issues over the years, not to create an encyclopedia but a further collection of collections.
Ninety-nine is almost one hundred. An eternal almost that categorically refuses to become a never : the new, found, chosen object is never the last, but having it brings the seeker closer to a utopian completeness. The exits symbolize the dual and contradictory drive of desire, continually poised between the infinite and the complete.
