artists’ book with writing
17.5” x 11.25” x 11.25”
2023
“Boxes in Boxes in Boxes and nothing” is a self-reflective artist’s book comprised of box structures, drawers containing small round pebbles, ribbons, and writing. Through engagement, this interactive work reveals and communicates my obsession with and understanding of “control”.
For a long time, and perhaps even now, I have felt an inherent need to understand my surroundings in a black-and-white manner, seeking clear and definitive answers to what is good or bad, right or wrong, should be or shouldn’t be. My perspective on life has been akin to chess – I have the free will to make choices, but these choices are limited to a definitive number of options based on the rules of this world; I can choose which chess pieces to move, but pawns can only move forward, and castling is only done between a king and a rook. Because of this fixed mindset, I felt frustration and confusion when I witnessed others bending those rules, which I didn’t realize were even possible. Eventually, I realized that my inability to be flexible and let go of control was causing self-destruction. “Boxes in Boxes in Boxes and nothing” shares this obsession with control and the consequential self-destructive experience through interactive engagement.
Translation:
“always looking for the answer, though there aren’t answers for everything,
there are times when I feel destructed by the tiniest bump
hope this uneasiness is imaginary because I hope for my real self to be of something more unwavering.
wanting to defy destruction, to be able to control everything may be too much greed.
why does a mere human try to carry so much.”
