The Butt Archive
2025
Format: 8.5 × 11 inches, scale of a traditional manila case folder
Form: Case-file–inspired publication
Pages: 50
Typography: Courier
This publication documents the act of walking through New York City as a modern-day flâneur, tracing what people leave behind. Each cigarette butt becomes evidence of leaving traces, fragments of anonymous lives scattered across the city. Inspired by the investigative works of Sophie Calle, Francis Alÿs, and Christian Boltanski, the book takes on the role of a quiet detective, pairing photographs and speculative stories to reconstruct the invisible presence of others within the city’s collective memory.