Leap Day: February 22-29, 2024
Make any type of art you like that honors Leap Day in some way. Maybe show what you’ll do with the extra day? Or combine art and math in some way? Or make frog art? Or make art using 29 or 366 of something? Whatever you like!
The Submissions:
“29 Lines” - by Heart of Darkness
One of my favorite days!
by Journal Kurtz
I’ve always been fascinated with leap year birthdays. As a kid, it seems strange to me that someone would be born, then, the next three years, that date would not be on the calendar.
February 29th is my co-worker Heather’s birthday. I wrote in her card that she’s the most mature 12 year-old I know. She said that it’s because she’s actually 13.
Leap year calendars are fascinating, but I can do without the math.
by Captain Quillard
What comfort,
this quadrennial reminder
that we
are not perfect
So often—
too often, maybe—
I see sublimity in nature and its
implausible ability to draw beauty
from mathematics:
the tessellation of a honeycomb
the spiraling Fibonacci sequence of a seashell
the symmetry and patterns and structures
in flowers and branches and weather patterns
all seemingly perfect
all mathematically exact and repeatable
all conspiring to create a world too beautiful
to be believed and
too perfect to have a place for a flawed soul
like me
and yet
the math is not perfect—
every four years, we make a correction,
adding an entire day because nature’s math
doesn’t quite match ours
even that correction requires
a correction—
rules for skipping certain centuries
but not others
to account for fractions of days
and anomalies of time
the calendar is flawed, I’m saying—
the math imperfect, and yet,
nature no less sublime
It’s not just that our math is off—
nature itself has imperfections and
is all the more beautiful
for them:
asymmetry in the pedals of a wildflower
the wabi sabi of a crooked tree
the mutations of cells that create new beauty
through imperfection and evolution
and correction—opportunity for growth,
or opportunity to recognize the beauty
in imperfection
What comfort,
this quadrennial reminder
that imperfections add character
and depth—that beauty
is found not only in perfection
but also in flaws, anomalies,
and the quirks that make us
who we are
by Anonymous Frau Redux
Still life leap day style: puzzling, chippy, knotty, and with dogs.
29 of each item: puzzle pieces, banana chips(human/doggo snack treats), knit beanies, dog toys
Leap day bonus- temp 29° this morning.
Hope your extra rare February day was fantastic!
-Anon Frau R
Next Week’s Assignment:
This week (somehow) marks two years of Artpocalypse Thursdays. Thanks to all of you who have helped make that happen! I feel like I should give each of you a gift, and the traditional gift for a second anniversary is cotton. So, this week’s assignment is to make art out of cotton. Happy anniversary!