Four Boxes, 2012
Wood, plastic, metal and
transparent adhesive c-print collage on glass
(1) Ed Merritt’s Diary: 9(W) x 22(L) x 30(H) cm
(2) Folks’ Drawer: 13(W) x 35(H) x 40(L) cm
(3) Emma’s Book Cabinet: 26(W) x 35(L) x 39(H) cm
(4) Personal Mailbox: 9(W) x 22.5(L) x 31.2(H) cm
Diaries, drawers, bookshelves, and mailboxes — these everyday containers serve as vessels for storing and transmitting personal information. In Four Boxes, Tang Kwok-hin constructs four intimate sculptural objects that probe the fragile boundaries between public and private, self and other, intrusion and connection.
Each box represents a distinct act of “looking into” another’s life:
Ed Merritt’s Diary — drawn from a stranger’s online diary
Folks’ Drawer — created after secretly opening his parents’ bedroom drawers
Emma’s Book Cabinet — based on photographing a friend’s living room bookshelf
Personal Mailbox — a self-addressed response to the previous three
Fabricated from wood, plastic, metal, and transparent adhesive C-print collage on glass, these boxes function as both physical containers and metaphorical portals. The use of transparent layers allows partial visibility while simultaneously creating distance, mirroring the complex dynamics of accessing someone else’s private world.
Through this series, Tang explores how we interpret the traces others leave behind — intentionally or unintentionally — and how such intrusions can paradoxically foster understanding and emotional exchange. By physically manifesting these intimate spaces as artworks, he transforms acts of voyeurism and self-reflection into objects that question the ethics of observation, the nature of privacy in the digital age, and the subtle ways human spirits connect across boundaries.
