Johnny Tang Photo | Fine Art Photography

Books to Burn

This is the page you can find all the information on the Books to Burn series. Books to Burn consists of small batches of handmade books, created for the purposes of filling with secrets and burning them. This is a side project with all profits going to support to the larger Secret Histories project, which consist of 451 little red books created for the same purpose.

In many Asian cultures, we burn paper goods at funerals to honor/communicate with the dead. "Death notes" for example, are burned for loved ones to spend as "bank notes" in the afterlife. This work is inspired by these traditions. The intent is to use the books as sacrifice. For a sacrifice to have meaning, it must have value. For Johnny, there are few things more valuable than knowledge, and our secrets are the most valuable kind of knowledge we posses.

This is an ongoing project with different batches of books released in different “seasons” (not real like seasons, more like TV show seasons). Each season features different cover designs, and a limited numbers of books. The price of each book will increase with each successive season.

All books come with a 1/1 NFT, which will be burned if not collected after 2 months.

Books or corresponding NFTs will also grant the buyer access to an exclusive book burning party held at a later date (currently planned for 2024).

Please see more information on the contents of each individual season by clicking on the links below: