Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/12/08/this-is-what-going-viral-l.html
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That was in interesting look under the hood of the sausage factory, to mashup my metaphors. Thanks!
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AFTER. THE FUCKING. JUMP. For crying out loud.
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Wow, what a wild ride, Rusty! At first glance I thought I’d get around to reading your post later, but I wound up reading every word of it 
Congratulations to you and to Tim Klein, and good luck with your new e-newsletter venture!
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tl;dr
(I kid, I kid)
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I remember that post! Ha, so I sort of feel like I knew these pieces way back when, before they got cool and then famous, etc.
Anyway, in that first post you wrote, “Aren’t they magnificent?” They are! And I can see why you’re having trouble trying it yourself. How DOES he get the two puzzles’ pieces to match??
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Probably makes each one first, then looks at them and lifts out sections from one and swaps them with the same sections in the other.
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Ah. Yeah, that would work of course if the puzzles had the same uh, cut pattern.
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I’m pretty sure that is the basis of what he does. They all share the same die cut.
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Certain puzzle manufacturers have just one pattern for each size and number of pieces of puzzle that they manufacture. So Tim Klein sees a puzzle at a rummage sale (the original post says he mostly uses vintage puzzles). Going by the brand name and the size and number of pieces printed on the box, he knows what the pattern is and what other puzzles he has in his collection that can be swapped with it.
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That French magazine quotes him saying that the key is to fill your spare room with whatever puzzles you find. Obviously you do need puzzles with matching dies but on top of that I guess it’s the same principle as for regular collage, which is to have far, far more source material than will end up being used.
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That was a fun read! Klein came by and left a comment on my post, and I was blown away because I thought he was a well-known, established artist. I’m glad he’s sold his inventory.
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What a neat behind-the-scene (or through the hole in the puzzle?) view of viralocity. Very, very cool.
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While my friend Aron’s puzzle mashups sit there in the corner, non-virally. And my friend Alex’s puzzle mashups. But then again, in direct comparison, you can clearly feel the viral quality, the catchiness, of Tim Klein’s pieces (pun intended).
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There’s this tickle in the back of my mind that makes me wonder if puzzle manufacturers would try to stop this with an EULA if they could, or cash in on it themselves, or otherwise be a debbie downer about the concept.
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This is a perfect example of how shitty the news media is.
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Find an article someone wrote.
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Rewrite it.
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Give credit to the original if you feel like it.
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Profit.
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I had a couple of my web projects go viral back in the 2000s, but I never really managed to turn them into bigger opportunities. I’m glad that this guy is getting the chance to actually make something out of it.
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A huge article and i didn’t spot any reference to Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Good-ish!
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Anecdotally I feel like a lot of radio stories I hear trail and reproduce boing boing posts.
