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Aessemblages by Scott Rolfe

We have four works by Scott Rolfe: three "Aessemblage" works and one photo of an Aessemblage on wood.  Let me start with remarks I made when, in 2015, I found Rolfe's 2012 book "Aessemblage." 

What an explosion of imagination!  The book presents twelve assemblages of old tools, parts, kitchen utensils, and sheer junk!  The foreword by MC Di Venanzio rightly proclaims of viewing one of these works "This is truly a magical moment."  These objects are indeed "something new, yet still recognizable to us all."  In the early pages, Rolfe talks about his art and his steps into bringing together his art form and Aesop's fables.  For me, the key is the moment when visual art wants and needs story.  For Rolfe, it was when a homage to Henri Rousseau "needed something more."  "The static lion-in-a-jungle image took on a new dimension, and the experience hooked me on Aesop's Fables" (9).  Rolfe creates his own versions of the stories.  I notice, for example, that his hare keeps falling back in the race to taunt the slow tortoise.  In MSA, not only the donkey but both father and son tumble into the water!  LM; DS; "The Rat and the Elephant"; WS; FA; FG; CP; TB; "The Kid and the Wolf"; and FK fill out the fable program.  WS and FK are my favorite illustrations.  Various pieces seem to be available in various forms, from the original boxes to woodblock replicas. 

As I catalogue these works now, 11 years later, the last remark is helpful.  One of our four works is indeed a woodblock, and I believe that it presents a photo or scan of Rolfe’s Aessemblage of DS.  We’ll start with that woodblock.

Woodblock of DS signed by artist Scott Rolfe.  Giclee print mounted on a ¾" wood block and varnished.  4½" x 7⅜".  Purchased from Scott Rolfe (Scottius) on Etsy, June, '15.

The presentation here tells the story immediately.  The sun looks on, as we do.  There is a hole in the back of the woodblock, so that it can be hanged easily, say, on a child's wall.

Drawer presentation of TB.  Dimensions.  Purchased from Scott Rolfe.

This is an ingenious presentation!  My favorite features include the tiny forks that give the lower traveler hands, as well as the spoons that give him feet; the position of the fellow up in the tree; the posture of the curious bear; and the "play dead" posture of the lower human.  A treasure!

Drawer presentation of SW.  Dimensions.  Purchased from Scott Rolfe.

This is a personal favorite.  The wind is comprised of a series of springs issuing a veil toward a traveler who is mostly a bar of metal as arms wrapped across a cloth chest.  An arc-like piece of metal is the face.  One hardly notices the smile on the sun's face.  Bravo!

Wooden appliance for hanging clothes presenting FK.  Purchased from Scott Rolfe.

This exquisite piece is in need of small repairs.  It is, remarkably, a wooden piece of furniture to be hanged on a wall.  On it in turn one could hang clothes.  Underneath is a compartment to store perhaps things like keys.  The frogs are curious metal pieces that turn out to have the right kind of bulging bodies with short legs.  The crane is a marvelous combination of elements.  The weeds are metal strips with holes in them.  So creative!