0 - 000000000 follows the oval’s progression. As the oval accumulates and is manipulated, the book explores form, symbol, and repetition through touch and perception.

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The book features a hardcover with a hand-cut oval-shaped cutout. Inside, nine pages contain an increasing number of cutout ovals (from 1 to 9), alternating with pages featuring corresponding printed red ovals on the left side.

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On each cutout page, the ovals are cut, flipped, rotated, and sandwiched within the paper. As a group, they are rotated 90 degrees and partially superimposed on or displace their original voids, creating a color contrast and a tactile experience through the raised edges formed by the cutouts’ thickness. The front and back of each page have beige and gray backgrounds, respectively, with gray and beige ovals embedded, forming an inverted color relationship. Interested in the bookmaking process?

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The shifting shadows produced by the cutouts introduce another layer of dynamic visual interplay, lending the reading process rhythmic and spatial fluidity. The exposed-edge cover, inspired by board books, deliberately avoids traditional fully wrapped book cloth binding, positioning the cover and end sheets as equal structural components, echoing the book’s internal inverted structure.

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Beyond its visual interplay, the book does not just present numbers but rethinks the way they take shape and gain meaning. Typically, numerical progression follows a linear sequence—“1” follows “0,” “2” follows “1.” However, throughout history, humans have recorded numbers using physical objects such as stones or carved tally marks. This tradition is evident in Roman numerals (I, II, III) and the equivalent Chinese characters (一, 二, 三), both visualizing quantity through repetition rather than abstraction. This primitive mathematical practice bridges the gap between tangible existence and abstract numerical representation.

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This book adopts an accumulative visual layering: Growth is not marked by 1, 2, and 3 but instead accumulates as 0, 00, 000. In this form, the oval ceases to be a singular shape and becomes an entity that continuously grows, expands, and overlays itself. The abstract number transforms into a perceptible material, an object to be observed, touched, and experienced.

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0 - 000000000 emphasizes tactility and interaction. It creates a layered rhythm that is both playful and refined. As form, structure, and reading interact, the book shifts from a static object to a dynamic experience. The oval’s gradual development mirrors the way stones are arranged, moved, and stacked—engaging in a dialogue between order and change, abstraction and materiality. Here, reading becomes a spatial and sensory experience.