Today was the 100th day of the 100 Days 2010 Project and it’s truly amazing how many people hung in there till the end or caught up. Out of the 40 plus that started, over half of them crossed the finish line with a phenomenal effort of creative output.
Led by timely postings of video clips by the super-talented John Timmons who offered some revealing yet questioning and thought-provoking scenarios in 30 to 45 second bits, the participants had little trouble finding their own paths of production by picking up treads of concepts, obvious or metaphorical, and running with them to make it their own. The multi-talented Cathryn Esten followed John’s lead with many well-produced film clips of her own along with poems, stories, and photos.
Tremendous work by Carianne Mack Garside (who’s working on finishing up a 9-month-long project any day now) as well as her mom, Carol Mack, and her aunt Barbara Laucius to channel the family genes into some extraordinary pieces. Janette Maxey was involved this year, stretching into some new forms in her painting, and Mindy Bray surprised us with some amazing paintings as well–Mindy did photography last year. Sam Haskell joined this year to create a fantastic gallery of portraits. Claudine Metrick produced an outstanding array of work, mainly landscapes, using unusual colors and textures to offer the world in a different way. Sabreen Aziz entered the challenge nearly halfway through and yet managed to catch up and complete an extremely skilled and creative group of typographic pieces.
Our writers also had some family ties that proved the theory of art within the generations. Steve Ersinghaus, now on his third year of the project–he and Carianne Mack Garside were the original two artists to undertake this effort in the summer of 2008–produced some wonderful and wonderfully interesting fiction this year. His wife, Susan Ersinghaus created some of the most reader-friendly and honest poetry I’ve ever read. Their daughter Kendra Bartell appears to have the mix of both styles, the down-to-earth and the scientific precision and wonderment. Poetry by Neha Bawa, also on her second year of participation has been honed to encompass her delightful imagery within the twitter restrictions of 140 characters.
We have the thrill of photography produced by Jessica Somers, who last year worked in tintypes and this year has focused on color images that have the expert eye for composition required by black and white. Newcomer to the project Steve Veilleux has produced some wonderfully deep images layered into story and true art. Another amazing artist with film is Fran Forman, whose work holds that mystical appeal that invites one to look beyond the initial image to seek the details.
Kelli Newton Costa had chosen to present an image each day that told story within character. Heather Lochtie (daughter of Maggie Ducharme) has not only managed to show us 100 different sides of herself, she also played a part in many of John Timmons’ films. Maggie Ducharme photographed her creations–each day’s meal presented to appeal both visually and to the sense of taste. Colleen Richard photographed her creations as well–her garden as it bloomed throughout the summer.
More fascinating photography from Billie Williams, covering a wide array of subjects. Catherine Sanger’s photography brought us all over the world meeting exotic people.
There were a score of others who did some outstanding work, and for one reason or another found it difficult to continue–our loss. From poetry to coding organization to art, photography, and writing, we saw some great starts. Their work can also be seen on the main site for the project here. It’s an undertaking that requires dedication, but some planning as well. I hope to see them all available and ready to complete the project next summer. And hopefully, some new people, inspired by the amazing body of work that has been produced in just over three months, will choose to join in what’s becoming an international artistic undertaking.
My own participation of 100 short stories is linked to the right. A post on the organizational side of it, using Tinderbox, has been posted on Hypercompendia. Thanks particularly to John Timmons for his handling of the project besides his awesome video clips that have inspired so many.
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Thoughtful and very inclusive and elucidating! But then, that describes all your writing too!
Thanks, Susan. I’ve done updates, but never with the individual links so I wanted to do this as I did for last year’s.
Thanks for the excellent wrap-up of our 100 days experience, Susan. This project has certainly been invaluable from my perspective – it’s provided me with the discipline to create a body of work; and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the efforts of other artists, both for inspiration and genuine interest.
I look forward to our continued efforts.
Steve, from your very first image you inspired me. Just posted about my own humble gropings with Photoshop during the Project, and mentioned and linked again to your site. Thanks for the inspiration!
Great wrap up Susan! What I loved about 100 Days was an opportunity to be in such creative company while putting together a body of work. Parts of making art can be very isolating. It was nice to see, as I put together my photos of Cuba, people’s reactions. John Timmon’s thought provoking videos took me out of my box as did looking at my other fellow artists’ creations.