One of Our Fossils

A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, 2024

Relic 1, Chicken bones, wire and pencil rod, 140 x 1650cm

One of Our Fossils is an installation with sound, scent, and image.

It’s predicted our remnants will be plastic, nuclear waste, and chicken bones.

I chose chicken bones for their absurdity.

Installation shot: Relic 1

Installation shot: Relic 1 (top) and Relic 5 (bottom)

The bones reflect a world of cheapness and speed.

The work asks how future people might understand them.

And what that says about us.

Installation shot: Relic 1, Relic 3, Relic 4 and Relic 2 (left to right)

Detail shot: Relic 2 and Relic 4

I began collecting bones in 2023, going to restaurants and asking for leftovers.

Most had been in people’s mouths.

A portrait of consumption.

Relic 6 (right) and Relic 7 (left)

Relic 6 and Relic 7 are incense holders.

They imagine a future where chicken bones are used in everyday life, like fossil fuels today.

Bone preparation, 2024, 1:08 min 

Before starting One of Our Fossils, I weighed 40kg.

I needed a physically demanding project that would force me to get stronger.

So I committed to collecting, cleaning, and wiring 60,000 bones.
 

Calendars, 2024

To do that, I built calendars to structure my year.

Each day had a task: gym, bone cleaning, or meal prep.

I repeated this for 500 days
 

The artist's studio, 2023-2024

The calendars became an obsession.

I surrendered to the work.

I stopped asking what to make, and started asking who to become.

Selected texts, interviews, and lectures available upon request

Photography by Alvin Lau, Hariz Raof and the artist