How artist Sarah Boris turned a easy e-mail right into a e-book of collective intentions

Again in December, artist and designer Sarah Boris emailed buddies, artists, writers and musicians with a single request: “ship me 10 resolutions”. She wasn’t planning a e-book; she was fascinated by an paintings. However as soon as the replies began rolling in (greater than 70 contributors and over 800 resolutions), the venture shortly grew into one thing larger.

The result’s Resolutions, a restricted version, 166-page e-book of 26 numbered copies, printed this January to coincide with Sarah’s solo exhibition of the identical identify at Stolen Books Gallery in Lisbon.

For anybody juggling solo follow with collaboration, Resolutions presents a case research in how a good constraint can unlock surprising outcomes, and the way one clear thought can ripple throughout a number of codecs.

An concept that grew by itself

Earlier than founding her personal follow in 2015, Sarah labored as a designer and artwork director for establishments together with the Barbican, the Institute of Modern Arts and Phaidon. Her work typically takes acquainted symbols and quietly destabilises them. Her Fragile UK Flag (2015), created from tape and blue paper, has appeared at protests and in exhibitions on the Design Museum, and her artist books are in collections on the Stedelijk Museum, the Centre for E-book Arts in New York, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Resolutions emerged as Sarah ready for her Lisbon exhibition. Stolen Books Gallery invited her to make use of the area as a residency during the present, prompting her to think about gathering resolutions as materials for future paintings.

“I hadn’t anticipated making a e-book,” she recollects. “However as soon as the submissions began coming in, the sheer quantity made me need to collect them right into a publication.”

Crucially, she did not ask for only one decision. Every contributor was invited to ship 10, “nearly like a small manifesto,” as she places it. Anonymity was non-obligatory, and some contributors selected it. Touchdown simply as folks had been closing out the yr, the e-mail grew to become a second of pause. A number of contributors informed Sarah they had been grateful for the immediate; a motive to mirror fairly than rush into January.

Patterns, gaps and surprises

Studying by way of the submissions revealed clear patterns. Self-care got here up time and again: respiration, swimming, dancing. Political resolutions mirrored the present local weather. Others had been deeply private, formed by main life adjustments reminiscent of turning into a father or mother.

Studying responses from folks Sarah knew properly was particularly transferring. “Figuring out what some contributors had been by way of in 2025, their resolutions made me need to verify in with them,” she says.

The venture additionally sparked conversations past the e-book itself. One contributor, artist Marine Chevanse, informed Sarah she’d repeated the train along with her personal buddies. What started as a non-public experiment began quietly spreading.

“That is after I realised it could have an enduring impact,” Sarah says. “Not simply on my follow, however on friendships and connections.”

Why solely 26 copies?

Limiting the e-book to 26 copies meant solely a small variety of folks would learn the resolutions; a type of take care of one thing private. The quantity additionally hyperlinks on to the yr, 2026, explains Sarah. “That informs each the version measurement and the worth, which is €26. These sorts of correlations assist outline a system for the work.”

Equally, Resolutions II is pencilled in for 2027: 27 copies, priced at €27 every. “It is the primary time I’ve began a yr figuring out precisely what venture I need to end on the finish of it,” she notes.

A impartial container

Design-wise, restraint was key. Sarah used Simplon Mono Common by Swiss Typefaces, giving the textual content a delicate typewriter really feel. The quilt is Smoke Gray Colorplan uncoated inventory, and inside, every contributor has their very own unfold.

“The design wanted to be impartial,” she says. “The e-book features as a vessel for the resolutions. I did not need it to grow to be an train in fashion; that is one thing I am saving for the textile work I will be making this yr.”

Different textile items seem within the Lisbon exhibition, every associated to one in all Sarah’s personal resolutions. A big textile made with reclaimed cloth exhibits a mouth with a drop of water at its centre (a reminder to drink extra water, but in addition to consider assets). A display screen print of a Mon Chéri fruit label nods to consuming extra fruit.

Two smaller works act as “fortunate charms”: a gilded wishbone for needs, and Sarah’s personal knowledge tooth for knowledge. She describes them as guardians of the resolutions.

Letting the work feed again

Engaged on Resolutions reshaped Sarah’s personal method to intention-setting. “It had an enormous affect,” she says. “I ended up making extra resolutions than ever.” As submissions arrived, they triggered new concepts. Fluent in each French and English, Sarah seen she formulated totally different sorts of resolutions in every language. Solely the English ones seem within the e-book. “The French ones felt extra intimate,” she says.

For Sarah, books are each completed artworks and areas to assume. “They offer me freedom,” she says. “Like sketching, however with concepts.” This e-book feeds instantly into what comes subsequent. Sarah plans to develop new artworks utilizing the collected phrases all through 2026, constructing on her residency analysis and time in Portugal.

A venture that retains unfolding

Resolutions did not begin as a e-book. It started as a query, grew to become an exhibition, grew to become a publication, and now serves as a roadmap for future work. The 26-copy restrict grew to become a conceptual anchor fairly than a limitation. The act of asking for resolutions created conversations as useful because the completed objects.

At a time when creatives are sometimes inspired to maintain disciplines neatly separated, Sarah’s fluid motion between artwork, design, publishing and collaboration feels fairly refreshing. Typically the most efficient tasks are those you do not plan; they’re those that develop just by being attentive to what needs to occur subsequent.