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The "Box of Crazy"


Christopher O'Brien

Back in the Saddle Aginn
Staff member
The "Box of Crazy" is an interesting find... Comments space fanz?
Article HERE:

Ik3yGs8h.jpg
 
It looks to me like someone was just trying to render a really cool picture, as part of, possibly, a larger work of graphic fiction based around an alien element to Biblical visions and prophecy. That person either died or stopped working on it and put it all in storage for when they had more energy to deal with such an undertaking. They never got around to it, and eventually, it was thrown away with the rest of the stuff taking up space during some spring cleaning.

Every person I know who writes, and thinks graphically, has tubs full of similar sketch books. I have them, myself.
 
Yeah Prophet. it has a weird alien/crypto/biblical thing going on with many interesting drawings. I didn't read much of the text but if this is the work of one person's imagination, I'd have to say it was a serious, if unfinished, attempt at some kind of work. Notes for a book?
Some of the drawings are of creatures I've never seen and I wonder if the inspiration for them is supposed to be something other than the writer's pure imagination?

I'll say this - If I stumbled across something like this I'd think it a very cool find indeed. Hope it isn't possessed a-la Dibbuk Box and some evil entity has been unleashed upon some poor unsuspecting punter!

What do you think yourself Chris? Do tell!
 
What do you think yourself Chris? Do tell!
Umm, I'm still dealing with my own "box of crazy" of the weird dead livestock variety, so I haven't been able to take the time to scrutinize the scans, etc... a cursory look IS intriguing to me and there could be something interesting contained within the verbiage and images. fwiw: My brother found (and bought for .50 cents) a priceless, historic magical work/author's proof copy at a sidewalk garage sale in Albany NY 30 years ago, so, I would caution everyone to be extra careful before dismissing the box by its cover (or a simple cursory perusal of its contents) :cool:
 
We've just had a news item here, that over 1000 paintings that had been lost since WW II have been found in the home of a deceased art dealer in Munich, including some unknown ones by artists like Marc Chagall and Otto Dix. If someone had told me before that there might be unknown art by these guys lying around in some cellar, I'd probably not have believed him.

So, yeah, sometimes things do turn up unexpectedly. Could be for real, whatever it is, probably in Prophet's interpretation, though. If the contents of the box are fake, someone has really put a lot of effort into making them look old.
 
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Real or not (my guess) I would really applaud the imagination, effort and insight of the book's author. I wouldn't mind if it was just a marketing ploy and this person put out similar work. The world could use a little more whimsy.

I'm still waiting for the sequel to fungus the Bogeyman....no joke.
 
The artist was obviously a fan of Speilberg's "Close Encounter's" after viewing SOME of the contents, I'm reminded that a blotter of L S D does contain a Box of the wonderful and crazy.
 
I think the "box" itself is actually a portable "wallpapering table" or wallpaper "pasting table" (with legs removed) of the 1940s or 50s era.

As for its contents, to me they seem genuine, but they tell a sad story.

Very interesting thank you for posting.
 
I think the "box" itself is actually a portable "wallpapering table" or wallpaper "pasting table" (with legs removed) of the 1940s or 50s era.

As for its contents, to me they seem genuine, but they tell a sad story.

Very interesting thank you for posting.

I am unable to view all contents of the box, but what "sad story" did you take away from this?
 
crafty creatures, disguising their craft as clouds. Reminds me a bit of a scene, watching the 80's series V when I was a kid.
 
Why I found this a sad story

Starting with the box itself: It appears to me to be a wallpaper "pasting" table, I have seen a similar one before, and when I checked the dimensions, pasting tables with similar dimensions are still on sale today.
You may wonder why I feel that this is of any particular importance?
to my mind it would demonstrate that the "bookmaker"/author had selected the "box" because it was of the desired size, but had not been in a financial position to purchase an "artists portfolio" (a special case or bag for drawings).
The fact the author kept their work in a very suitable yet humble way, goes some way to showing that they invested a lot of time and effort, in something that they felt was important. The fact it was not bound also shows that it was not a finished work.

I do find it sad that the book and its author are now separate because it is clearly such a personal work, has now been disassembled (the pages mixed up) and the author has clearly not given his or her knowing consent to its publication. according to the person that took the pictures and posted them they "found it in the trash" or words to that effect.

My opinion is that it is the work of someone who was looking for answers and never found them.

I could say all sorts of unkind things about the "draftsmanship" of some of the depictions, or some of the questionable "designs" but from a truly "artistic" point of view the original "author" has succeeded in making an impression and that is positive :)

In a nutshell 10/10 for effort and a very generous 3/10 for content.

But overall a sad story, because the book was written in the unbreakable code that is an individuals understanding and reasoning, absent of narrative or explanation by the author, because it in this case has taken the form of a diary and is in essence a "conversation" between the author and himself. ("for nobodies eyes only":rolleyes:)
What I am trying to say is that this is not what I imagine the original "Author" imagined was going to be his "legacy" but I have a lamentable feeling that old father time intervened.

of course I could be "reading into it" a bit too much, it would not be the first time :D
 
Thanks for that. My impression, which could obviously be way off, was the author was perhaps in his early or mid 20's, at least during the text mentioning the movie Close Encounters. I do recall seeing a date of 1977, or there around. Anyway, psychedelics were pure, popular and easy to find.. and I can't shake the feeling of the artist being under such an influence while creating his works.
 
The artists it seems was this guy

OspbL4p.png


Not too hard to track down since this was in the box

http://i.imgur.com/7aQgV0qh.jpg

Nesna-it-sirhc the name on some of the drawings is Christiasen backwards

The contents seem to be by two different artists, with speculation some of the cruder drawings are that of his son

There is a lot more about the mans background available online if you want to dig for it


I missed a crucial page, I think /u/RedPartridge figured out something important : alienpumaspacetrain

The scale of the model could be over 60 foot by 60 foot, with people inside the Angels, driven by heavy moving wheels and definitely based above the Tampa building in Florida. Oh, and there also could be two models... : alienpumaspacetrain

Might have figured it out... It's a moving diorama. : alienpumaspacetrain
 
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I am a junk collector, what can I say? To me, this box represents priceless treasure. Not because of some box of crazy altruism, or sheer insanity, but rather because of the glimpse it has given us, in an ever so mysterious fashion, into the mind of one who was/is obviously a very imaginative person who liked many of the same things we all do. It sadly reminds me a little bit, in a situational manner, of Roky Erickson post his break down. Not because of artistic similarities or anything, but rather the unfathomable nature of a human being's mind led transition from an artistic work in progress, to utter obscurity.

This story is actually extremely fascinating, if for no other reason than it represents the priceless nature of junk. Excellent/Thanks!
 
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