In Things of Insomnia, Rafael Domenech transforms paperback books—once part of his personal library and later rejected

by a New York library—into sculptural works that explore the intersections of language, memory, and materiality. Refusing

to discard volumes that shaped his thinking, he reclaims them through a process of conceptual and physical re-inscription.

Each book is laser-cut with fragments from the artist’s archive—texts inspired by visual poetry and experimental writing, which Domenech calls “images never taken.” These writings aren’t meant to echo the original content but follow the book’s physical format. Words are fragmented and abstracted, inviting chance encounters between past and present.

As layers are cut and peeled back, traces of the original text resurface, creating unexpected juxtapositions. All books are paperbacks—a format tied to portability and the democratization of knowledge. For Domenech, the paperback is not only a conceptual anchor—symbolizing circulation and transformation—but also a personal one, echoing his own migratory experience.