Installation with 99 leaflets scattered on the floor. Each leaflet has an image of a different stone printed on both sides. Stones and leaflets are the most essential tools of the powerless for protest, resistance and struggle. Every stone is a message. Every message is a stone.

The first Palestinian intifada largely consisted of ordinary people throwing stones at their oppressors—the Israeli military. But this was not their only form of resistance. Simple informational leaflets were also widely circulated among the public. As Yasser Arafat once said, “every stencil is a revolution.”

 

Stone-throwing can be understood as a symbolic act. Its primary function is not to inflict physical harm, but to communicate a message. In this sense, it represents symbolic rather than purely physical violence. The leaflets, by contrast, operate in the opposite way: although they are purely linguistic in form, their aim is material—to reshape perception, to influence action, and ultimately to transform reality.

 

This suggests a broader strategy for creating change. Language can be used as a material force—not merely for endless discussion or symbolic expression, but as a tool for altering the world. At the same time, physical actions such as civil disobedience or sabotage can function symbolically—not to dominate or coerce, but to convey meaning and provoke reflection. Together, they form two complementary dimensions of the same struggle.

I frequently use the number 99 when producing my works. 99 is referencing the famous slogan of the Occupy movement - "We are the 99%". I interpret it as a unity of interest more than wealth. The large majority are united through their relation to labour, or employment, as opposed to the minority owners of capital - the employers. We should use this common ground instead of being divided by our different occupations and tasks within the capitalist system.
It is vital to notice that 99% means most, but not all. We are united not by universality but through the struggle for a common goal or against a common opponent.
99% can also represent the fact that universality is an abstract concept. There is never a complete answer; there is always a rest that will remain unknown. In real life, any happiness always contains a stain of sorrow, any victory a shadow of defeat.