Literary Power Washi Tape

Warning! You are Surrounded by Literature How much reading do you do on an average day? You begin each day reading the newspaper or a favorite news website and then peruse the latest posts by social-media friends and contacts. On the way to work or school, you are greeted by a steady barrage of slick advertisements and other messages. In the evening, pop music wafts through the air as you do some shopping. You see a faded New Year’s couplet clinging tenaciously to a restaurant doorway. A van blaring a candidate’s campaign messages over its loudspeakers passes by. You then return home, where a family member excitedly shares a punny joke they saw on their phone. You might not find it particularly amusing, but it suddenly reminds you of a movie you saw long ago, featuring a father who was fond of telling bad jokes. So, you smile after all. This is just an average day! Upon closer consideration, you will surely find that words are part and parcel of everyday life. They are all carefully crafted and refined by writers, then delivered to you through various channels. They may not all be great literary works, but they all employ techniques honed over centuries of human development: puns, rhymes, repetition, contrast, association... Through media and the education system, words have become intricately woven into the fabric of everyday life—humans are truly living in the most ‘literary’ of times. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The text content for the National Museum of Taiwan Literature's permanent exhibition appeal, "Warning! You are Surrounded by Literature." https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51128639303_4f94b7d79d_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51129540815_7110212316_b.jpg Material | Washi Paper Dimensions | 2.7 x 5 x 7.5 cm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warning! You are Surrounded by Literature How much reading do you do on an average day? You begin each day reading the newspaper or a favorite news website and then peruse the latest posts by social-media friends and contacts. On the way to work or school, you are greeted by a steady barrage of slick advertisements and other messages. In the evening, pop music wafts through the air as you do some shopping. You see a faded New Year’s couplet clinging tenaciously to a restaurant doorway. A van blaring a candidate’s campaign messages over its loudspeakers passes by. This is just an average day! Upon closer consideration, you will surely find that words are part and parcel of everyday life. A constant stream of messages, purposefully written, refined, and packaged, finds its way to you every day of the year. Media and public education have spun the written word into the fabric of everyday life. We truly live in the most ‘literary’ of times. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------