Origin and History
In 1970 Peter Schmidt created "The Thoughts Behind the Thoughts", a wooden box of 55 cards, in a signed and numbered edition of 100. Eno, who had known Schmidt since the early 1960s, was intrigued by the "Thoughts" and worked with Schmidt to expand them and offer them for general sale. After Schmidt died suddenly in early 1980, Eno stopped production and the card decks became rather rare and expensive. Sixteen years later software pioneer Peter Norton convinced Eno to let him create a fourth edition as Christmas gifts for his friends (not for sale, although they occasionally come up at auction). Eno's decision to revisit the cards and his collaboration with Norton in revising them is described in detail in his 1996 book, A Year with Swollen Appendices. With public interest in the cards undiminished, in 2010 Eno once again produced a new set of Oblique Strategies cards. The number and content of the cards vary somewhat from edition to edition.
The entire story of Oblique Strategies, with the content of all the cards, exhaustive history and commentary, is documented in a website widely acknowledged as the authoritative source, put together by musician and educator Gregory Alan Taylor.
The text of Schmidt’s “The Thoughts Behind the Thoughts” was published by Mindmade Books in 2012.
Read more about this topic: Oblique Strategies
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