The next stage in the dance

Susan and I were both somewhat trepidatious about our personal contributions to this book, and came together at her place a little bit uncertain as to how it would all unfold and what we would do.

Originally I had thought we would swap our pages/pieces and then sit together and stitch them into a snaky - type book, which you can lay flat or interact with and have as a mini-sculpture.

Susan also thought about maybe stitching the pieces together as a quilt, and somehow hanging it in perpsex so that both sides could be viewed.

As we sat and chatted and pondered what next, I was playing with the pieces. We talked about how would you choose which pieces to have up or down?  How with each piece there were two stories and for each up-side or down-side there were four options of design to consider - my travels, Susan's travels, my b&w graphics, Susan's b&w graphics. And of course, the orientation of each piece added another four choices.

So I played and we both felt good that even tho my travels side was different - it still worked well with the other designs. In fact our 'travel language' is markedly similar, so no matter what the design the two would look fine together we decided.

But how to choose?

A random selection of both sides of both of our pieces? In random placement across the grid?

Or do a random allocation of the black and white graphic design sides?  Even if you went this way, there are still so many ways to combine them - the sequence, the orientation of the pieces, the orientation of the full piece...

Try the reverse and randomly allocate the travel imagery?

With some scrumptious detail...

Or go a bit more organised and do a row of mine and a row of Susan's b& w graphic design side? But which ones combine across a line? Turn each piece around a few times? Alternate the rows or put Susan's two together then mine? Vertical or horizontal?

Can you feel the exhaustion settling in? Our minds were getting a wee bit warped as we considered all the permutations and combinations.

Alternating the travel pieces...

Oh, and back to the beginning again in a way, with both sides of both of us on show, but this time in a sort of a systematic allocation.

And with such lovely details.
Sigh.

So after we sat and chatted and played, it became clear to us both, in a shy but certain way, that in fact we had just collaborated on an unbound book.  Both of us work with the unbound book, and both of us felt that the interaction and play this book encouraged would allow so many stories to be told, would allow whoever 'read' it, to also 'write' it, and would take on so many lives and expressions.

To bind it in a sequence and leave the story limited to that telling, simply felt wrong.

It was unexpected in a way, but not a real surprise.  It is one of the joys of this collaboration that we often find ourselves doing something we hadn't planned, yet which is perfectly right.

So then talk turned to how to house this wee book; and we decided to get together another day, to make a box for this book and also one for our envelope book from the end of last year.

For me, I was thrilled with where we ended up and once again delighted with how well our work gelled and came together, given that we both worked in complete isolation and had no idea what the other would be bringing to the table.

I am calling this book 'Serendipity". Thanks again Susan - I think this one was perfect for its time and I really liked our gentle unfolding of it's true nature.