4:33AM

4:33AM is an immersive installation that explores new narrative possibilities for text as a medium. Visitors enter a darkened room where two projectors cast large sections of white text onto dark surfaces. In a corner of the room, the artist's bed is positioned.

Unlike an ordinary reading experience, the projected words are not confined to pages or screens but instead inhabit the physical space. As viewers move through the room, their bodies may interrupt the projection beam, causing the text to momentarily appear on their skin. 

4:33AM investigates how spatial context and physical presence influence the emotional and semantic expression of text. By integrating physical objects and projection mapping within an immersive environment, the work challenges conventional ways of perceiving and engaging with language—transforming text into an atmospheric, immediate, and ephemeral experience.

The title, 4:33AM, is a wordplay inspired by John Cage’s 4′33″, a composition in which the performer remains silent for four minutes and thirty-three seconds, allowing ambient sounds to define the experience. Similarly, the seemingly empty and silent space of the installation feels full of voices and stories—much like the experience John Cage’s 4′33″ offers its audience. The text projected in 4:33AM consists of words the artist has written on the walls of their own room late at night over many years.

Exhibition documentation by Yufei Ma