5. The Mini Library
‘The Mini Library’
These books are inspired by Chindogu.
By finding a solution to the amount of space
and storage books take up in homes, I decided
to make miniature versions of existing books from my house. Whilst they take up less space, they’re practically illegible - making them useless, but cute to look at.
Chindōgu is the practice of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that seem to be ideal solutions to particular problems, but which may cause more problems than they solve. This is made up of two words.
Chin which means “curious” or
“strange.” Dougu meaning “tool” or “device.””Strange device” doesn’t quite capture the entire meaning though. There’s an essence to chindogu that can’t be ignored. They need to be useful, but only just so. Something people could use but probably won’t because
of shame. They’re almost useful.
The term is of Japanese origin.
Or “unuseless.”