The Next big idea Richard Towers Object book 1

Richard Towers

Richard Towers is the pseudonym of Martinho Torres, born in 1974. He is a Portuguese writer and started a revolution on the publishing market by inventing the Object-Book. In 2010, the clock-book “Tempo” was released; in 2011, the mirror-book “Reflexions” reached the stores and, in 2012, the chess-book “The Challenge” was his third object-book to know the light of the day. Richard Towers won several prizes and was recognized for his work – the famous Portuguese magazine “Notícias Magazine” rated him has one of the most ingenious Portuguese  and the TV show “The Next Big Idea” gave prominence to his work: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gey7PhJwoNw.

The Object-Book Project

How did you come up with the idea?

This project started with a CD-Book, something common on the market, so I upgraded it and created the 

clock-book “Tempo”, the first object-book that I published. It was back in 2011 and, since, then, I've 

been promoting this project, an unique look at books, literature and art. The process of writing is quite 

simple: the content is based on the object, so I know that the story for the clock-book must move around the 

clock - Time is the theme. So it was for the mirror-book “Reflexions”, that tells the story of a man looking 

himself at the mirror and asking “Who am I?”; and so it was also for the chess-book “The Challenge”, the 

story of Karpin, an unbeatable chess player who is challenged to face the best player in history - an unknown 

and mysterious player who leads him to insanity. 

Do you see yourself as a writer, artist, or both?

I see myself essentially as an artist. I’m a musician too, so Art is part of my life since forever. Before I 

became a writer, I was a Portuguese teacher, so writing was only part of the process of creating. The stories 

I build are quite strange and contemporary - I look at the object in a different perspective, and life is all 

about perspective: the same event is seen by different eyes and interpreted in different ways, but, as long as 

you see the truth, everything will fit in. It depends on the truth you want to see…

How do you mass produce or is each a work of art in an of itself?

These books are mass produced, so they can be sold in any bookstore. Actually, they are sold here in 

Portugal and it’s a huge discovery for the book lovers. Imagine that someone bought my clock-book and, 

when the battery went down, he immediately asked for a new book because he was missing the clock ticking 

in his room. People get affectuous to the object, the way it works and how it fills their need for different 

things.

Here are some photos/pictures of the books and how they work:

   1. The frame to insert the book  

2. Half of the book inside the frame

     3. The bump on the edge of the frame

   4. All the books inside the frames and hung on the wall

5. A masterpiece that makes us go round the clock with is turbulent narrative   

   6. The clock-book works with an AG13 battery

     7. It can be hung on the wall

  8. The mirror-book has a real mirror cover

     9. It can be hung and has a passe-partout

10. The chess-book and his luxurious package: wood box with golden lettering

  

  11. The cover is the chessboard

 12. The chess-book "The Challenge" includes the whole set (32 wood chess pieces) to play on the chessboard cover of the book

And this is only the beginning of a promising and successful path...  

I'm running a campaign at the Indiegogo page:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stop-these-are-books/x/2601479

Here is the video of my latest work "Elements - Earth, Air, Water and Fire":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BUdpxyWwW4