A dice-rolling zine for Ace Hotel, 2014, 2015

Concept and Production: Ben Sisto
Layout and Design: Peter Bowen
Author Curation: Word Bookstores and Book Riot

Dice and Staples

At the invitation of Ace Hotel New York and Word Bookstores, 16 authors crafted short works in the second-person narrative voice. Each begins and ends with the entering and exiting of a room. Where one story ends, the next starts. Quantum Leap-style, sort of. 200 copies of each were printed and assigned a number, 1 – 16. These stacks were positioned neatly down the grand study table in the lobby of Ace Hotel New York.

Local artists Dhemerae Ford & Sarah Awad designed a custom 3D-printed, large format dice which was placed on one side of the table. At the other, a stapler and some stamps. Event guests — a mix of people who came specifically for Bound by Chance and general passers-by — were asked to roll the dice 8 times. With each roll, they received a corresponding page. Those 8 pages got stapled together with some cover stock and, there you have it.

Since you are wondering, if a participant rolled the same number twice, that page was given twice. A return to a previously-visited location of the labyrinth. Possibly, one remain stuck in the same room forever.

If a “W” was rolled, then the participant won all 16 pages. If, over the course of their turn the letters A, C, and E were all rolled, we gave that guest a delicious coffee.

Live events took place on March 8, 2014 and August 29, 2015

2014 Photos

Participating Authors

- Bill Cheng
- Myke Cole
- Nick Douglas
- Chad Felix
- Rachel Fershleiser
- Roxane Gay
- Chelsea Hodson
- Kat Howard
- Edan Lepucki
- Thomas Page McBee
- Sarah McCarry
- Dolan Morgan
- Travis J Nichols
- Raj Paremeswaran
- Danniel Schoonebeek
- Emma Straub
- Emily Asher-Perrin
- Justina Ireland
- Alaya Dawn Johnson
- Liam Lowery
- Nina MacLaughlin
- Jenn Northington
- Diana Pho
- Stephanie Saulter
- Bijan Stephen
- Charles Yu