Brian Eno / Peter Schmidt - Oblique Strategies (1978) Original Boxed Card Pack / Mint- Condition / VERY RARE! Start Price USD 500.00 Current Price USD 500.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, December 02, 2008 End Time Friday, December 12, 2008 Location Pittsburgh, PA See more about 'Brian Eno / Peter Schmidt - Oblique Strategies (1978) ' Description   "These cards evolved from our separate working procedures. It was one of the many cases during the friendship that he (Peter Schmidt) and I arrived at a working position at almost exactly the same time and almost in exactly the same words. There were times when we hadn't seen each other for a few months at a time sometimes, and upon re-meeting or exchanging letters, we would find that we were in the same intellectual position - which was quite different from the one we'd been in prior to that. The Oblique Strategies evolved from me being in a number of working situations when the panic of the situation - particularly in studios - tended to make me quickly forget that there were others ways of working and that there were tangential ways of attacking problems that were in many senses more interesting than the direct head-on approach. If you're in a panic, you tend to take the head-on approach because it seems to be the one that's going to yield the best results. Of course, that often isn't the case - it's just the most obvious and, apparently, reliable method. The function of the Oblique Strategies was, initially, to serve as a series of prompts which said, "Don't forget that you could adopt "this" attitude", or "Don't forget you could adopt "that" attitude." The first Oblique Strategy said "Honour thy error as a hidden intention." And, in fact, Peter's first Oblique Strategy - done quite independently and before either of us had become conscious that the other was doing that - was ...I think it was "Was it really a mistake?" which was, of course, much the same kind of message. Well, I collected about fifteen or twenty of these and then I put them onto cards. At the same time, Peter had been keeping a little book of messages to himself as regards painting, and he'd kept those in a notebook. We were both very surprised to find the other not only using a similar system but also many of the messages being absolutely overlapping, you know...there was a complete correspondence between the messages. So subsequently we decided to try to work out a way of making that available to other people, which we did; we published them as a pack of cards, and they're now used by quite a lot of different people, I think."                                                                          Brian Eno, in an interview with Charles Amirkhanian, KPFA-FM Berkeley, California 2/01/80        Available for auction is an original Oblique Strategies by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. This Limited Edition boxed pack of over 100 cards features possible approaches to creative dilemmas, as composed and compiled by musician Brian Eno and visual artist Peter Schmidt. The black pebble-grain hardboard box, printed in the UK, is in excellent condition. There are no crushed corners or broken sides. There is a very slight cosmetic split in the paper cover (one inch) on a box top corner seam. (It arrived in this condition from the UK in 1978.) Additionally, the paper is lifting slightly at one corner. This is not from wear or abuse, merely from the paper cover not being adhered to the box completely to the edge. There is also very superficial corner scuffing from the original international shipping (see scans).    The cards themselves are in glossy Mint- condition, having no bent corners, fingerprints, scratches or scuffs. They were not used, the cards being carefully read and replaced. To my knowledge they are still in the original order as received from publisher. This rare beauty has been safely stored in a climate-controlled home for 30 years.    It would be very difficult to find another original 1978 edition of Oblique Strategies in this incredible condition... it is a true collectors' piece. Enjoy. So far Oblique Strategies has been published, privately, on three occasions. The first printing was in 1975 (500 copies); the second, with slight revisions, was in 1978  (2,500 copies); and the third, with further revisions, was in 1979 (2,500 copies).                                                                                                                           1. Brian Eno / Russell Mills, "More Dark Than Shark", Faber and Faber, 1986, P. 98   PayPal ONLY. Please review instructions before bidding. I LEAVE FEEDBACK FOR EVERY TRANSACTION. PLEASE EXTEND THE SAME COURTESY.     Place a Bid!