The Convenient Existentialist Store is a zine based on my research about existentialism and existential crisis at UAL. I translated Sartre’s philosophy in Existentialism and Humanism by combining existential crisis as a psychological liminal space and convenience store as a physical liminal space into a game book. With this book, the reader could make their own choices of convenience store products to find out their life purpose. The illustrations are a twist of daily convenience store products filled with anxiety of existential crisis and serve as social commentary on how the abundance of commercial choices can make us feel decision paralysis just like how someone in an existential crisis faces real-life decisions.

The zine is also accompanied by a light sensor bell with Arduino to imitate the act of crossing the threshold of a convenience store.

This work is shortlisted at Ilustrofest 2024 Belgrade, Serbia and Booooooom Illustration Award 2024.

2024
135 x 193 mm
Risograph on Munken Lynx 120gsm