I had an epiphany this morning, about special objects.
Anything can be a special object. The differentiator of “plain” and “special” objects is the existence of a strong meta element. The object will have often been represented in a famous novel or movie, have some characteristic that warrants extra consideration, or be part of a zeitgeist. Think the Toyota MR2 (Initial D), holographic trading cards, or Rust.
Because of this, special objects are often terrible tools for self expression. When something becomes special, the actions taken with the object no longer become about the action, they become about the object. Overcoming this perspective shift is a monumental task, only easily accomplished by sheer ignorance on the part of both the artist and the beholder.
For my part, I don’t have the will or motivation to climb over that hill. Especially not when there are hundreds, thousands, millions of “plain” objects out there.