"R.A.S" is a self-published artist book. It originated from the drawing series "Perhaps Some Verses" created by artist Vonshan during her artist-in-residence program in Paris.
Since Vonshan could not read French, she imagined the words written on the street as beautiful prose. However, in reality, they were markings for road construction, temporary notes left by workers on the ground. They contained numbers for cement to be used in the construction, among other things. In other words, it was a beautiful misunderstanding. She depicted these characters in her paintings, along with puddles and fallen leaves on the streets of Paris.
When Vonshan introduced this work, she said, "Walking the streets of Paris and seeing handwritten French words one after another made the walk itself feel like reading a poem." Therefore, she decided to create a book that would make these drawings appear like a poetry collection. Turning the pages reveals the poem line by line. When the book is fully opened, it becomes one long poem. On the back, she placed images of the Parisian ground, representing the Paris she experienced.
The title of this book, "R.A.S," comes from an abbreviation of a phrase she repeatedly saw in the streets of France. Initially, she didn't know the meaning of this phrase, but as she investigated, she learned that it meant "Rien à signaler" (nothing to report, implying "all clear"). She found a deep interest in the nuance of this phrase and adopted it as the title for this book.
Publisher Surfacing Press
Year of Publication 2026
Size 247x97x10mm
