Contrary to the principles of traditional publishing, Grief resists portability and mass distribution, it is intentionally weighty, difficult to open without assistance, and demands a collective, physical encounter.
The work emerged from a shared need to give form to ecological grief and climate anxiety, by making a book that feels like a ritual, an encounter, a confrontation. Rather than circulating through bookstores or libraries, Grief disseminates through presence and conversation. Its awkward size and raw materiality invite people to come together, to sit with its heaviness and read aloud, to hold its weight both physically and emotionally.
In this way, the book becomes a performative gesture, a site for gathering, mourning, and dialogue, where the act of reading is no longer private but shared. Its dissemination lives not in numbers or reprints, but in the moments it creates between people.
Credits
Book design: Yihan Pan, José Cárdenas, Yihao Zhao, Anna Laura Schiavi
Pages: Eliza Modzelewska, Annie Lin En, Syan Hu, Yihan Pan, Yihao Zhao, Anna Laura Schiavi, José Cárdenas
Foreword: José Cárdenas
Poem: Anna Laura Schiavi