Chance of Pain

Limited edition artist’s book written by Chrissy Kolaya and designed by Rachel Simmons. Digitally printed pages bound in a lotus fold accordion. The text was altered from “Cloudy with a Chance of Pain” by Roger McShane, China Editor, The Economist, “The World Ahead 2023” published 11/11/2022. Edition of 10.

This new limited edition artists’ book, Chance of Pain, was made in collaboration with writer @chrissykolaya and is being shown @fieldprojects in NYC for the upcoming exhibition of artist’s books and zine titled “Traces” on view April 30-May 5, 2024. It’s been so much fun to work on this project, which emerged from a series of poems Chrissy adapted from articles from The Economist's "The Year Ahead" issue, but also from our shared interest in predictions and the future, as well as the nostalgic quality of photographs from 1970’s Nat Geo magazines. This lotus fold accordion invites the reader to make sense of random found imagery paired with the language of prediction.

These poems are part of an ongoing found text and collage project using text from the Economist’s “The World Ahead” issue, described by the magazine as a “guide to the coming year” and as “future gazing analysis, predictions and speculation. In times of anxiety and uncertainty, we often crave a sense of what’s to come. Engaging with the idea that we’re all tempted by the question: what will happen next, the project takes up the question of whether we can ever meaningfully predict or make sense and order out of an uncertain future.

This project has been awarded support from UCF's women and gender studies Gloria Anzaldúa Research Excellence Award. We are very grateful for that support!