Secrettes 01
Artist’s book, handmade paper of cigarettes, threads, letter foil on cigarette butts
18″ x 3″ x 1″
2018

Secrettes 02
Artist’s book, handmade paper of cigarettes, threads, letter foil on cigarette butts
18″ x 3″ x 1″
2018

Secrettes 03
Artist’s book, handmade paper of cigarettes, threads, letter foil
4″ x 2.5″ x 1″
2018

Secrettes is a cigarette box book, a book of empty dreams. As a book object, the box is the cover and the butts are the pages. With the idea of collecting other people’s dead dreams, I created cigarette box books to express my thoughts when I smoke.

This book is made up of handmade paper from cigarettes and I stitched it together with golden threads, then I sewed twenty individual cigarette butts together into pages. Smoking is often associated with male figures, and it is a common symbol of masculinity in the media. Males are not allowed to express their fragility due to gender rules and social stereotypes. Be strong, be tough, and be powerful are characteristics that society expects men to embody, and it is a shame for them to express their fragility because of these gender rules and social stereotypes. With the texts on the cigarette butts, I wanted to deliver the idea of the struggle and fear of being a failure, a desire of making the right decisions because men are asked to be responsible and successful. I have realized that smoking is a moment of reviewing the contradiction between the ideal and reality, a personal space for meditation, and a conversation within the self. It is not the behavior of smoking; it is about the process of introspection. It is an initiative for finding isolation and seeking a private moment.