Words to Live By 2025
Joss house, thermal printer, thermal paper, gold leaf, plastic
38 x 21 x 20 cm
Installed as part of The Protagonist at Belmacz, London
Photos taken by Peter Otto, courtesy of Belmacz
Words to Live By is a sculpture that continually prints out four words in the form of Chinese idioms every 888 seconds. It is currently being shown as part of the group show ‘The Protagonist’ at Belmacz︎︎︎ which is on until 1 August 2025. The words are taken from English translations of real ‘Chengyu’ and randomly selected, further removing from their original context and regurgitating them as absurd phrases. Over time these build up to form scrolls, printed onto thermal receipt paper, several meters in length. The printer is housed in a domestic ‘joss house’; a small shrine commonly found in traditional Chinese households, used as not only places of worship but also luck, prosperity and good fortune.