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TABTSB

Temporary Autonomous Book/Temporary Stealable Book

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A project by Nicolas Mendez and me for the course Design Power Society, taught by Professor Ruben Pater, taken in my master's degree at BAU.

An ode to Hakim Bey, the Barcelona metro, and unknown poets. What began as a simple experiment—making books with leftover papers—soon became the Temporary Autonomous/Stealable Book (TABTSB). The idea was to leave these small, handmade books in the metro for people to find. Made 100% from leftovers materials, each book stood out in the subway, turning routine spaces into moments of surprise. Attached with a soft chain to metro furniture, the books were both fragile and bold—a piece of public poetic anarchy.

TABTSB is about poetry without ownership, free and open for anyone to join. If you sent us a poem, we’d publish it in the next edition and release it into the metro. You could share your poetry through Instagram or email (tabtsb.bcn@gmail.com). The metro became a space for unexpected voices, where anyone could contribute their words.

Now that we’ve moved away from Barcelona, the project lives online. We’ve created a website where people can continue sharing poems. Submissions are now featured in a monthly mailing list instead of being placed in the metro. It’s a new way to bring poetry to unexpected places, making room for creativity and keeping the spirit of TABTSB alive.

website