RIP- reading is past
RIP - Reading Is Past is a bookmark designed for the end of reading, exploring the relationship between completion and disappearance, presence and memory. By adopting the tombstone as a symbolic form, it transforms an abstract "state" into a tangible physical object. Through the ritualized act of closing the book and inserting the bookmark, the reader performs an ending ritual that is already socially familiar.
RIP does not accompany the act of reading; instead, it stands between the pages as a marker of the final chapter—a small monument to completion. Every reading comes to an end, yet through the persistence of thought and memory, reading never truly disappears. The book's body returns to the shelf, while its exchange and spirit may endure.
Formally and structurally, the bookmark features an independent U-shaped insertion at its base, allowing the tombstone silhouette to stand fully outside the pages once placed. Printed on gray paper, blurred-edge ink text and embossed irregular textures simulate the natural marks left by time and erosion on stone. These formal decisions do not function merely as visual symbols; they originate from long-standing human practices and embodied experiences related to disappearance, time, and preservation. RIP translates such experiences into tactile forms, allowing the ritual of finishing a book to be perceived and reaffirmed through concrete actions and material sensations.
The backing card extends this exploration by externalizing "the end of reading" into space and setting, positioning the bookmark within a scene and incorporating the packaging itself into the ritual. Through form, setting, and text, we aim to communicate the thinking behind the project.
