The Joy of Text is a handmade artist book that records contemporary human communication through finger-typed messages—constructed from acronyms, abbreviations, and coded language.
Presented in alphabetical order and arranged in a deliberately non-algorithmic rhythm, the book resists data extraction and surveillance, prioritising privacy over optimisation. Conversation here becomes material: fragmented, embodied, and intentionally opaque.
The companion volume, Sexting Dictionary, catalogues abbreviations related to sexual intimacy, revealing how desire is encoded to evade censorship and monitoring while still enabling connection. Together, the two books form an archive of intimate communication shaped by concealment, consent, fear, and pleasure.
By preserving these exchanges in physical, handcrafted form, the project asserts embodied activism—reclaiming intimacy from platforms built on surveillance.
The Joy of Text
20 pages | 148 × 210 mm
Laser printed black text on white 220 gsm executive bond paper
Loop stitch binding, soft satin finish.
Sexting Dictionary
Limited edition of 30 | 8 pages | 148 × 210 mm
Laser printed white text on black 220 gsm executive bond paper
Loop stitch binding, soft satin finish
Limited edition of 30 each personally signed and numbered.Book Design by Inhouse.
“The Joy Of Text” | INSTALLATION SCROLL
In 2023, “The Joy of Text” was exhibited as a part of Encrypted curated by Lina Vincent at Apre Art House in Colaba, Mumbai.
The text was visualised as a scroll 6 inches wide and 6 feet tall. Printed using eco-solvent ink on satin fabric cloth.
