This publication accompanies the first PlatformSTPI Projects artist-in-residency programme of Korean artist Haegue Yang at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute in collaboration with Platform Projects, an organisation supporting contemporary art and its awareness in Singapore. The book also serves as a catalogue of Yang's exhibition at STPI in November and December 2013.

Haegue Yang, a leading artist of her generation kicks off the first series of PlatformSTPI Projects (PSP) with Honesty Printed on Modesty, close to 100 new breakthrough works drawing attention to the power of spices and everyday food items – from its domestic function to its impact on civilizations and evolving human history.

Yang’s surprise discovery and usage of spices and vegetables found in markets of Singapore from around the world, charts the earliest drivers of globalization where the quest for spices established a vast economic network throughout the middle ages and colonialism. Followed by modernization and its scientific advancements, which revolutionized and continue to impact how food is harvested, processed and distributed to meet today’s consumption demands. 
Yang experiments with new materials by integrating the physical and sensorial characteristics of spices and vegetables into handmade paper and sandpaper. These humble works bring viewers closer to the sensorial, tactile experiences with basic food items, tracing civilization’s origins and transformation, as well as Singapore’s development from a colonial hub to a modern, global city.