14 breaths

14 breaths, 2022 —

A collaboration borne of precious time, 14 breaths surfaces in this world as a limited-edition, ceremonial sculpture by Ross Gibson, in collaboration with Kathryn Bird and A Published Event (APE).

If you are receiving this gentle note—sent now to a close circle of family, friends, colleagues and peers—you are a person held very dear to the hearts of Ross Gibson and Kathryn Bird. Over the last eighteen months, each one of us has had the privilege to participate in, contribute to, or simply move alongside Ross and Kathryn as they have navigated the ups and downs of Ross's cancer diagnosis. And now we are here. In the midst of something finite. Something ending. All that love.

Several months ago, and at a time of our moving ever closer to Ross and Kathryn, Margaret and I (as A Published Event) offered to produce an artist's edition for, and with, Ross. 14 breaths is the result of that invitation. From the outset the project has been a shared venture. In collaboration with his partner, Kathryn, we all began to imagine a ceremonial device that would enable Ross to remain present with us all, both in the immediate time of his passing and long into our futures. Without question, this artwork is a gift—a gift to those of us Ross will soon leave—in this life.

'14 Breaths [asks us to] pay attention to the preciousness of each moment, each moment we share in time and space. This project is an apparatus for that attentiveness.' RG*

Published in an edition of /65, one for every year of the artist's life, 14 breaths might be compared to a Japanese tea ceremony kit, reconfigured as an aesthetic mourning mechanism, with time implicit. 

Why 14 breaths? 14–20 breaths is the range of breaths that a human body takes per minute. It became increasingly clear to us that attentiveness to the duration of a breath has been at the heart of Ross’s work for many decades, perhaps beginning with a focus on the breath of actors in cinema studies, and very explicitly a focus in the haiku-esque utterances of his work in the 25 or so years since ‘Life After Wartime’. As we get to the stage in his living body where each breath is precious, 14 breaths + 14 days of mourning + 14 sticks of incense + 14 randomly-selected cards in each box all seemed to be a perfect structuring system for this mourning-ceremony kit.  

Each edition of this artwork offers 14 short utterances (from a field of 28), making each collection of breaths unique to that edition. In this sense, every edition of 14 breaths, is one of a kind. Ross defines this edition as 'one unique thing amongst all the unique moments of our existence.'

Made by hand in Australia, each edition of 14 breaths comprises; 14 breaths (printed on 600gsm Mohawk Superfine paper); 14 lengths of White Cloud / Haku-un incense (Shoeyeido); one hand-formed black clay incense holder (Elisabeth Leslie/ Mojo); two lengths of rare Tasmanian timber, magnets (Linda Fredheim); one custom designed, hand-made cloth bound and lined box (Pandoras Boxes). 

Each edition of this artwork offers 14 short utterances (from a field of 28), making each collection of breaths unique to that edition. In this sense, every edition of 14 breaths, is one of a kind. Ross defines this edition as 'one unique thing amongst all the unique moments of our existence.'

Made by hand in Australia, each edition of 14 breaths comprises; 14 breaths (printed on 600gsm Mohawk Superfine paper); 14 lengths of White Cloud / Haku-un incense (Shoeyeido); one hand-formed black clay incense holder (Elisabeth Leslie/ Mojo); two lengths of rare Tasmanian timber, magnets (Linda Fredheim); one custom designed, hand-made cloth bound and lined box (Pandoras Boxes). 

Each edition of this artwork offers 14 short utterances (from a field of 28), making each collection of breaths unique to that edition. In this sense, every edition of 14 breaths, is one of a kind. Ross defines this edition as 'one unique thing amongst all the unique moments of our existence.'

Made by hand in Australia, each edition of 14 breaths comprises; 14 breaths (printed on 600gsm Mohawk Superfine paper); 14 lengths of White Cloud / Haku-un incense (Shoeyeido); one hand-formed black clay incense holder (Elisabeth Leslie/ Mojo); two lengths of rare Tasmanian timber, magnets (Linda Fredheim); one custom designed, hand-made cloth bound and lined box (Pandoras Boxes). 

Each edition of this artwork offers 14 short utterances (from a field of 28), making each collection of breaths unique to that edition. In this sense, every edition of 14 breaths, is one of a kind. Ross defines this edition as 'one unique thing amongst all the unique moments of our existence.'

Made by hand in Australia, each edition of 14 breaths comprises; 14 breaths (printed on 600gsm Mohawk Superfine paper); 14 lengths of White Cloud / Haku-un incense (Shoeyeido); one hand-formed black clay incense holder (Elisabeth Leslie/ Mojo); two lengths of rare Tasmanian timber, magnets (Linda Fredheim); one custom designed, hand-made cloth bound and lined box (Pandoras Boxes). 

 In a final word(s)—in accumulating your contact details from Ross and Kath over the last few weeks, I have been thinking how much I wish we were all gathering here, in this virtual invitation, under different circumstances. But then, what better place to meet, here and now, than in this place of deep and saturating love.

Get in touch with me if you have any questions at all,

Warmest Regards,

Justy (and Margaret) / APE

www.apublishedevent.net

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*Our deepest thanks to Nick Keys for interviewing Ross and Kathryn about this edition and for their permission to share these extracts with you here. 

** Photographs by Peter Whyte