Immortal Words: A Word is Bios

Boedi Widjaja

In Immortal Words, Boedi encodes ultraconserved words—believed to have endured for over 15,000 years—into synthetic DNA, distributing them through gachapon machines. Rooted in the artist’s childhood migration—when he brought only his body, memories, and mother tongue—the project explores language as an embodied cultural genealogy. The translation of language into DNA is mediated through the Javanese Hanacaraka, the acoustic filter through which Boedi encounters and acquires all other languages, rendering the archive both deeply personal and culturally situated. Gachapon machines, commonly seen in Southeast Asia, transform genetic archiving into a playful, public ritual, underscoring the role of social interaction in the transmission of language and memory. Each DNA capsule comes with an NFT, extending the life of language across organic and digital realms. Immortal Words invites us to consider language not merely for communication, but as code—biological, cultural, and computational; a Basic Input/Output System for being, belonging, and becoming. Here, word also becomes bios: a molecular and poetic vessel for diasporic memory, forming a living archive that is at once intimate, material, and collective—dispersed and transmitted through acts of play.