Significant Objects: Star of David Plate

Significant Objects is a much-discussed experiment conducted by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker. Their hypothesis: if a talented writer invents a story about a thrift-store object, that object will acquire not merely subjective but objective value — on eBay. How better to test this hypothesis than via a week-long collaboration with Design Observer? The first of five stories is by Adam Harrison Levy; it has also been posted to Significant Objects, and the object itself is for sale here on eBay.

Star of David Plate

Now that Budd Schulberg has died, the story of how I stole this plate from him can finally be told. I was researching a documentary film and I had taken a bus out to his house on Long Island in order to interview him. Schulberg wrote the screenplay for On The Waterfront (“I coulda been a contender”), named names for the House Un-American Activities Committee and, during World War Two, arrested Leni Riefenstahl, the famous film-maker. Not many people know that.

In my capacity working on documentary films, I’ve met a lot of famous people and stolen great stuff from them — Harry Belafonte’s precise V5 roller ball pen, Liza Minnelli’s ashtray, and a used Kleenex from Debbie Harry’s red leather handbag. Some people collect autographs from famous people. I collect things.
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By Adam Harrison Levy

Adam specializes in the art of the interview. For the BBC he has interviewed a range of actors, writers, and musicians. He has produced/directed two films and his writing has appeared in The Guardian and Design Observer. He was a Poynter Fellow at Yale University and has taught at Wesleyan University. He currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York.