Flowers don’t speak, they sing by Mingli

This zine is like a lyric booklet of sorts, but without any words. And the artist is not a person, but nature itself. Opening up to A3, the zine is folded in a way that lets you read it continuously, without end. Inside, you’ll find photographs of flowers I’ve come across on my walks around Singapore – each quietly existing, yet too striking to pass by without capturing as a memory for the road. Accompanying these photos are musical compositions composed, recorded, and notated by Eugene Soh (@_pandamachine).

Just as we often give our voices to things, both living and non-living, have you ever stopped to wonder what a flower’s voice would sound like? It soon became clear that whatever it may be, it would transcend words. This zine lends a voice to these flowers – listen to how this project imagines each of them might speak by scanning the QR code at the bottom, and/or reading the notations at the top. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to have fun navigating the zine and collapsing them however you like. Enjoy!

About Mingli

Mingli (Ming) is a multifaceted creative involved in many fields including writing, photography, and design. At her day job, she writes about Art and Culture under the global publication Time Out. Outside of that, her main passion is very much centered around books and the printed matter. Some of the books she has designed and worked on, both under the design house WORK and independently, are currently housed in the collections of National Gallery Singapore (Singapore), DAIKANYAMA T-SITE (Tokyo), Thing Books (Singapore), The Book Show (Singapore), Printed Matter (New York), Mulu Office, ss space space (Taipei), and TACO! (London).

Her works and explorations in the form of images, zines, books and whatnot, revolve around the documentations of people, memory, nature, objects, thoughts, and the heart of life at large.
Ming also runs Serious Books – a personal platform spotlighting art books that she has collected from around the world and their makers. Additionally, she co-runs Part Time Book Club, a community-driven program that aims to bring book lovers together to connect and share about books.