Solitary Confinement

Solitary Confinement is my first immersive book. I wanted to create a book that not only discusses the issue of solitary confinement but demonstrates a form of confinement that readers could experience for themselves. Stepping into the book, alludes to our experiences of physical and mental confinement. This artists’ book sculpture, in which the viewer can be completely enveloped, is made of thin, yet strong, almost translucent paper, prompting viewers to feel a disconnect from civilization. The longing for a connection is kept alive only by memory.

The pages open up into all directions, with the middle page becoming the top part which can be attached to the ceiling, turning a flat surface into a cubic space. The once easy accessible text that could be read page by page now is in all directions with light, height and transparency interfering into the usual way of consuming knowledge.

The book as part of my ongoing Walk-in-book series, invites viewers to engage with the physicality of the book itself, transforming it from a passive object of observation to an immersive environment. Through this project, I aim to challenge traditional boundaries of book-making and storytelling, encouraging a deeper, embodied interaction with the spaces we inhabit, both physically and mentally.

2022, Open edition, Oil sticks, wood, bookbinder’s thread, Misu paper

Dimensions: 

24 x 24 x 1 inch or 60.96 x 60.96 x 2.54 cm (folded book)

14 x 14 feet or 426.72 x 426.72 cm (unfolded book)

2 x 2 x 6 feet or 60.96 x 60.96 x 182.88 cm (hanging sculpture)

Institutional collectors: Herzog August Bibliothek.

Solitary Confinement was first exhibited at the Bronx Community College.

Watch the unfolding of the Walk-in-book