The Mysterious 31 Days In - Magical Prints, A Mysterious Couple
"I am comfortable in not knowing what number of calories blue cheese has in it or how much I spend on brunch a fortnight"
I’ve been desperate to find out the mystery for weeks now: no, it is not what you might think. I am comfortable in not knowing what number of calories blue cheese has in it or how much I spend on brunch a fortnight. For about two months I had been irrationally flicking my instagram, scrolling through gorgeous - nay, sumptuous - images of local sights around the world from Barcelona to Perth wondering - who were 31 Days In? Drawing one new picture a day for a new location, I was impressed with the speed and skill of these people. Is it one person? Is it a collective? It then was announced they were coming to Wellington. I wondered if they knew it at all.
As the weeks wore on it transpired they did know Wellington - very well indeed. 31 Days In were updating their instagram with more colourful prints - this time of Wellington’s most iconic images. They were also releasing one song per day from various different bands from the city such as French for Rabbits and the Roseneath Centennial Ragtime band. From Havana Bar, to the houses in Mount Victoria to the night lights over the water. I was driven mad! How did they know this city so well? How were they getting bands to play songs to pair with the pictures? WHAT DID THEY KNOW? HOW DID THEY KNOW SO MUCH?
After seeing one of their final posts of houses in Mount Victoria which I decided to buy for myself I could bare it no more. I sent another email and asked if I could meet ‘them’ to discuss their beautiful works. We arranged to meet. So, I found myself sitting in Thief Bar on Edward Street not with some kind of collective of cultural bandits of Wellington style from Mexico but a petite blonde girl with an Australian accent, bundled up in coats and scarfs so she resembled a pale baby chick nested in wool, and a polite pale man, kindly asking whether I would like a beer. It turned out this was Tim and Zoe - the pair behind 31 Days In. Zoe is from Perth (hence being cold in one of Wellington's warmest years ever) and Tim is from Wellington. “We like your blog too” they enthused. I told them I had had no idea who they would be. They laughed. "That means it's working" they smile.
The process requires discipline but is rewarding. Some nights they’ve up until 3am, they tell me. The two are clearly a team and work together to get the job done. Being in Wellington has allowed them to extend further from their last concept, which was pictures alone, and introduced the idea of asking a band to donate a song to raise money for charity for each day a picture is released. “We want to keep on changing things and coming up with new ideas for new places” Zoe explains.
The pair met while working in Chile and then have continue to go everywhere and any where in the world together. Currently, having finished their 31 pictures in Wellington on the Instagram, they are in the process of organising an exhibition for next month which is tied into the album release and will be at Matchbox Gallery, Cuba Street. After that, they plan to spend a good amount of time enjoying Wellington before considering where they might jet off to next and start drawing in another city. For now though, they are staying with Tim’s family, looking forward to a break, and having a good night’s sleep.
The piece I bought...
Surrealism at Te Papa is where it’s at this winter with these wonderful events…!