one year
gosh where has the time gone?
gosh where has the time gone?
yes I know I've said it before... but it only seems like last week that I started this journey
and now a year (52 weeks) has disappeared in a cloud of smoke (and books!)
and now a year (52 weeks) has disappeared in a cloud of smoke (and books!)
here's a quick recap....
When you see them all together like this a number of 'themes' start to be rather obvious... the first of course is that every week included something with, made from, about BOOKS (derrrrrr like you needed to wait until now to be told this) .... it MAY surprise you to learn however that I didn't start out with this in mind (it was somewhere around week 6 that I realised everything I was doing had books..... so I thought I'd ride that pony as far as it took me..... after 52 weeks of booky gestures it's now clear to me that I could go on and on and on with my books FOREVER).
Another unintentional bit was the repeating palette (look at them - they're all B&W, red, blue and a tiny bit of yellow/green..... huh! again - not intentional... indeed the red didn't really emerge until week 6... then it kept popping up!). I DID however start out with one thing that I knew would be a part of each week's work - every single 'gesture' was captured with my batphone using the hipstamatic app (and minimal rework before upload - and I really do mean minimal - mostly resizing for the blog and that's it) this restriction proved both a discipline and an education...
There are other things about the series that may not be quite as obvious - every 'gesture' was created at home/near to home (Bermagui, the next town over from Cobargo, was a far as the series travelled) and our small creek featured heavily (there I was wading and splashing on weeks 9, 21, 31, 39, 41 and 49). Most of the works were in response to the week's weather or events: flood (W9), winter frosts (W32), blossom burst (W35), family wedding (W50)... Many weeks involved a lot of physicality - like lugging tonnes of books to the beach (W8), forest (W24), farm hill (W26), creek (W39, W49) - thank goodness for small children with big muscles I say, because my back has long been a wrecked mess!
The 'gestures' that I enjoyed the most were the unexpected ones.... a found nest hinted to a work (W51), a found hole that proved just perfect for books (W47), a ploughed paddock was prime for planting (W22), found tracks begged to be followed (W37)... I also perversely enjoyed when my original idea met with radical modifications as the work unfolded (W35 book page blossom started out as something completely different... not that you could know that!) - I grew to love the unpredictable nature of collaborations (W14 surf surge - oooops!).
Not every week/ gesture was gold... but I'm surprised now by how many of these I DO like - for an ephemeral, casual, unpremeditated, off-hand bit of artyness, I think it made for a nice art experience (wellll at least it did for me! you have *no* idea how silly/happy I was creating some of these things..... at times I would break out in fits of giggles - its fortunate I didn't have a large audience standing nearby!)
This series was specifically created for online viewing and sharing - essentially it was made for YOU --- and I really appreciated all of you who dropped by over the year and took an interest - thank you, thank you for all your lovely comments and notes...
To thank you properly I've made a little something (a few little somethings actually) that I'd like to give to you in return for a favour --- I'd like to know what gesture/ week or individual image was YOUR favourite -- you can pop your answer in the comments below or leave a note on my fb page (rhonda ayliffe - artist) or email me: (rhonda[dot]ayliffe[at]gmail[dot]com) ..... I'd love to hear from any new folk (who may have felt a bit shy to comment earlier) just as much as all the lovely loyal supporters that I like to think of as friends.....
Tomorrow I'll post piccies of the special something I've created to give to one of you -- but I'll send all of you a little something if you tell me your fav pic and email me your postal details...
thanks so much
I arrived to your blog the week you had books in a tree. Stunning!
ReplyDeletehow exciting to see them all laid out like this Ronnie... they are so potent these images.
ReplyDeleteHard to single out ones... and with what selection criteria I asked myself.
In the end , after coming back to 24 a number of times I chose 33 because it worked on me back at the time quite powerfully... i like the unexpectedness of blue in otherwise natural surrounds...and as young one I loved to think of those bowerbirds with the chutzpah to make a colour statement!
Must have awakened in me a sense of the possibilities of assembling stuff to make a similar impact!
They work so well and this assembled collection reminds on of the element of intention and how that makes simple things noble!
Bravo!
#8, 47 and 50 - all beachy pics really appealed to me but that doesn't express my delight on finding whatever your weekly offering was.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed each and every one, so thank you Ronnie. Week 7 made my heart ache; weeks 51 and 52 were faves - and in the end I came down to 51 - serendipitous, collaborative beauty.
ReplyDeleteHi Ronnie, so many choices!
ReplyDelete#13 really appeals to me. I can't help thinking of the Little Tin Soldier when I look at #31 and for some reason I think of Edgar Allan Poe with #19, but I think I have to vote for #33 as my favourite - with its whimsical nod to satin bower birds :)
Glad you enjoyed your year of arty gestures, it was certainly a treat to watch unfold.
It's amazing to see your year of art gestures assembled - what seemed like a huge project has been completed. My favourites were #29 and #48 where the art gestures interacted with some content in the book itself. Visually, the stunning blue books and beautiful borage from your garden in #36 won me over!
ReplyDeletehard to pick a favorite but 45, i remember enjoying that one so much. also remember an ocean one...since i'm on the couch with the flu who knows what i'd remember if i was healthy! but i've loved this and would have loved seeing your happy dances, too.
ReplyDeleteoh, and the bird's nest and horsehair one, 51, is really cool
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the completion of this amazing project! The discipline, focus, consistency required to carry it through could have easily wiped out the "sparkle" of a body of artworks executed rhythmically over a year; you succeeded 100% in maintaining the sparkle, creating a truly inspired work.
ReplyDelete#7, 50, 52 are my favorites.
that's like asking me to choose a favourite child or tree or or or
ReplyDeletei like number 2 and number 8 and 52 and 13 and 22 and 24
and
and
and
Thank you for a year of art-y gestures! And what fun to look back on them all together as a completed body of work...and to begin noticing the elements that hold them together, whether consciously or not. It's impossible to limit my favorites choice to one, but 13, 24, 35, 45 & 52 are definitely among those that speak to me most. Bravissima!
ReplyDeleteso i have been here and looked and thought and could not decide. now i see others with multiple choices ..ok then now i can play![ plus i spy a really cool prize :0) ]
ReplyDeletei still come back to the ones that do not show a ' book ' but rather a page ..and words taking flight
# 27 , # 34. i am so not a reader , requiring a book , which makes me kinda hyperventilate..but words on the loose ..yep. the open sky , the taking flight of words and ideas perhaps ?
Just one? Impossible! 12, 24, 49-52 are my favorites. But then there's 7, 8, 13...
ReplyDeleteIt's been an honor to view your amazing and thoughtful work.
ok, kiddo, this is really, really tough. I grew to look forward to this series and loved the anticipation of what your Sunday missive might bring. So to answer your question, I had to ask myself a question: which post would I have missed the most if you had never posted it? (I'm a weirdo, I know). And I knew immediately it was #47. Those books, in that situation...well, heck...that's the definition of *anticipation* if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteI love all of them, especially when all together, but especially 7 & 50
ReplyDeleteAll of these touched a chord especially 7 and 51 and in the end I thought 7. it is so gentle and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the completion of this project, although I am sure you are probably the type to continue making little private art gestures. I keep coming back to #43, I like the unexpected nature of this one and keep imagining myself stumbling on to this lovely surprise whilst out walking.
ReplyDeleteAll the very best for a fabulous 2013.
Hi Ronnie, it's been a great series! My particular favourites are:
ReplyDelete26 burning books
33 unexpected blue
47 nestled books and lichen
Can't wait to see what you get up to next... :) Sara x
A difficult choice but since I love black and white, and checks and cats it'd have to be week 2 :-)
ReplyDeleteWeeks 17 (so abstract and I love B & W), 27 (the notion that words can fly.. of course), and 50 because it is so evocative of a pleasant holiday. A great year's work Ronnie.
ReplyDeleteI wasnt going to post and then I saw the flowers on a bare twig and really did love that one.
ReplyDeleteI scrolled back in the year( an inspiring journey). Too hard to choose from the "small ones".
ReplyDeleteWeek 9,especially for the idea behind the photo, week 10, nice photo, it made me smile and week 20,what a nice gesture, a stone coverd with text on a paper (with a secret and then throwing it in the water...)
I tried to comment earlier, but my iPad wasn't letting me. I love 45, the element of trace and time, and 46 too.
ReplyDeleteCngratulations on a great project, ronnie.
my favorite? it is so hard to chose. but i think that i am drawn to 50....i love little bird's nests.
ReplyDeletebtalan@yahoo.com
It's wonderful to see all your art gestures together Ronnie and to read about the fun you had making them, I'd rather like to see the video of you giggling during installation :-)I'm glad you got so much out of the experience.
ReplyDeleteIt's very hard to choose, I love 28 that colour of autumn 'leaves' and 45 is great, I really enjoyed the impression left in the lawn after a week with the clover grown and space of what had been....just before mowing.