"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons " - T. S. Eliot
Move over, tea, your petticoat needs fluffing. Enter the bold and bitter beverage of the people - spread from Ethiopian goat herders to Ottoman warriors to Arab mystics to Italian factory workers to American revolutionaries to you and me, all of the less-fussy half of the world united in appreciation of the humble cup of Joe. You can keep your doilies, pal, I’m good with my paper cup of a drink so simple and easy to prepare, that every diner in the country can manage to make the "world’s best coffee!”
OK, we get it. Coffee is awesome. But what about this coffee spoons as a measurement of time business, Mr. Eliot? Well, why not? Do you have a better idea? What have clocks done for civilization except stress us out over being late for stuff? Coffee spoons are surely the superior way to synchronize. Good morning, gang! Let’s fire it up.
In our illustration, a spoon swirls the clock-like contents of a coffee cup, which spiral down the minutes, hours, days and years of morning pick-me-ups, afternoon gabs, coffeehouse debates, first dates, and daily buzzed out bliss. Here’s to the Boston Tea Party: Thanks for getting the party started, King George.
The quotation is from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot, which was published in the June 1915 issue of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. You can see our illustrated version here.
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Code: 3PRINTS
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Obvious State is a creative studio and publisher founded by Nichole and Evan Robertson in 2011.
We make bold, illustrated editions and fine art drawn from the classics.
Our books and prints are available in our shop and in bookstores and boutiques nationwide.
Our work has been featured at The Folger Shakespeare Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American Writers Museum, The Emily Dickinson Museum, The Library of Congress, The Getty Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art and more.
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Provocative visuals paired with punctuated language, full of surprising visual metaphors, subtext, and insider nudges that reveal themselves slowly.
Our pocket editions are portable art objects made to collect, share, and inspire moments of quiet reflection in an overstimulated digital world.
We’re drawn to language that has stood the test of time, insights that strike a chord, poetry that stretches the imagination, and philosophy that prompts critical thinking.
