A specially printed anthology of Latin-American authors lasts only two months once opened.
The first print run of El Libro Que No Puede Esperar comes in a sealed plastic bag. Why? Because the second you open it, the book’s ink begins to react with light and oxygen. Two to four months later, the text will have disappeared completely.
The vanishing text is meant to represent the struggles of new authors, according to the Buenos Aires office of Creative Agency, DraftFCB.
“Books are very patient objects,” said regional general creative director, Javier Campopiano. “We buy them, and then they wait for us to read them. Days, months, even years. That’s OK for books, but not for new authors. If people don’t read their first books, they’ll never make it to a second.”
The book also serves to highlight how vulnerable printed work is to time and decay: a pertinent reminder of how, not too long ago, an open flame or a leaking roof could effectively erase hundred’s of years worth of culture and history. Perhaps there’s a little commentary on print’s uncertain future in face of the growing popularity of Ebooks as well.
Or it could just be a very clever way to get people to buy another copy of the book.
You may now make that “I hope they do the same for Twilight/Fifty Shades of Grey” crack you’ve been holding in since the first paragraph.
Source: Youtube
