mmmmor studio
Wai Lun Hsu, with an MFA in Artistic Research from the Royal Academy of Art The Hague, delves into historical narratives to uncover the mechanisms of power, channeling these explorations into his published works. Lai Ping So, who holds an MA in Gutenberg-Intermedia from Hochschule Mainz and teaches at Hochschule Rhein-Waal and Neue-Fotografie, reimagines written language to probe themes of existential angst. Their individual practices converge in a shared commitment to pushing the boundaries of both art and publication.
Together, they published a diverse range of artists’ books showcased in institutions and museums worldwide. Through their work as publishers, mmmmor studio cultivates a dynamic dialogue between creators, readers, and collectors between Europe and Asia.
The artists' books At the Time When employ a three-part structure, exploring the concept of time by its measurement. Time was once a fluid concept; we relied on sun, shadows, or combustion for communicating time. Mechanical clocks synchronised and homogenised our time. The clock, Karl Marx argued, was the first automatic tool introducing “regular motion”, reshaping timekeeping, industrialised production, and our daily patterns.
We investigate two archives—the German Clock Museum and the Baden State Museum in Southwest Germany—for their clock-making history. In the Black Forest, a clockmaking tradition began in the mid-17th century. Thousands of timekeeping machines are now stored in the clock museum, showing different times at the same moment. For instance, one clock freezes at 8:10, another at 4:00. We respond to these timepieces at these specific times during our trip to the Black Forest in June, in the longest days of the year.
The artifacts and images in this work come from different pasts, yet record the same time. By connecting these ideas of time, the work examines our “temporal” and “eternal” relationships with time.
In this work, the artists weaved a constellation of historical, archival and contemporary fragments–images from their visits to the three Palace Museums (Taipei, Beijing and Hong Kong), along with archival images from the National Palace Museum (Taipei). The three Museums are connected through a shared archive originally from the Forbidden City’s imperial collection.
This work examines the concept of national archives as an instrument of China’s historically centralized power, where authority has long rested with a single ruler or governing body. The Forbidden City’s axial design, mirroring the character “中” (center), and its amassed archives not only safeguarded cultural heritage but also embodied imperial authority over the vast empire.
This work re-examines the materialization of this centralized structure, by revisiting historical architectural plans, classical paintings, and artifacts that were once accumulated in the imperial palace. The structure of this work offers a non-linear narrative that explores the ideas of centralized structure in East Asia's historical hierarchical system, while examining their deep connections with traditional Chinese philosophy and aesthetics.
This artist’s book, a joint creation by Wai Lun Hsu and Lai Ping So, was first released in 2023. The new edition, limited to 60 hand-bound copies, was published in May 2025.
te da te da is an artist’s book with visual poetries depict the sound of river.
The artists made field recordings along the Rhine in Düsseldorf and Cologne. Employing both omnidirectional microphones and a hydrophone, they capture not only the river’s currents but also its ambient environment. Using these recordings as creative reference, they analyzed sonic characteristics such as speed, duration, loudness, distance and rhythm, then translated them into visual and tactile poetry. The work reimagines conventional communication systems that typically compartmentalize our sensory understanding.
This poetic translation explores how textual and visual signifiers convey non-verbal experiences, and examines whether sound can be understood through other sensory experiences.