RORRET ELPRUP:PURPLE TERROR

fictional essay, artist book publication, 100 Edition, 2025

The book "rorret elprup:purple terrors is a fictional essay interwoven with memories of the father, an orchid collector, and the traces of the East Asian medicinal orchid, 'Seokgok', which he meticulously cultivated throughout his life. Traditionally known for its fantastical symbolism and psychoactive properties, Seokok appears here as both a portal and a glitch: unstable yet revealing, a subtle vibration left behind by the silent presence of plants on human perception. Following the orchid, tactile memories difficult to decipher between gestures of care and commands reawaken as rhythms at the fingertips, quietly traversing hidden dynamics between human and non-human beings. This book is a sensory ethnography arising from a place where the word "beauty" fails to reach; a slow dialogue where plants and humans, future and memory quietly intersect, in the world that unfolds after the fantasy of "healing."

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Text: Cho Ari
Proofreading in English: Freya Bennett, Zoe Lane

Design: Gihong “Kiki” Park
Typeface: Grancy, Saag (Designed by Minjong Kim) – English, Sandoll Myeongjo Neo 1, SM Soon-Myeongjo – Korean

Printed and bound in Hamburg, Germany First Edition in July

©2025 CHO ARI. All rights reserved.