I am a lone monk walking the world with a leaky umbrella : 21 Chinese shadow puppets by Serge Onnen 2012-2017

An image volume with 160 pages of shadow-puppets behind rice paper and a texts volume, that can be read as brief biographical notes on each puppet, in both Chinese and in English.

The puppets where inspired by world events related to economy & anger happening during this period (DSK affair, pussy riot, Piketty, Trump, etc.) A timeline inside the cover of the book, puts these global events next to the development related to this project. Mockery of the powerful by the powerless, has always been part of the grotesque world of puppets. Also Chinese numerology is an important part in this book. In the Chinese language, homophones numbers are very popular. Homophones are words that have a different meaning, but sound exactly like something else (week/weak). For a westerner the number 514 says nothing special, but in Chinese it could mean "I want to die".

In modern society numbers stand for the most rational way of thinking. Argument are won with numbers and not with reason.