here are some of the results of an ongoing art project with school children in Quillan, France. After presenting them with diverse examples of languages (hieroglyphics, sanskrit, japanese, pictograms etc) I invited them to design their own alternative to each letter in the alphabet, thus making their own personal code.
What a wonderful project Garth! Reminds me of making up rune alphabets with friends at school - I can still remember em. And lovely to see your work on the web.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments tam, I've really enjoyed the school projects. I find the children are much more open and engaged than their parents..usually. We did a joint exhibition at the end of the project, and the children were so happy to face each piece of work of mine as if it were a puzzle. They could openly confront the 'not-knowing' we all experience when we engage in something challenging without resorting to defense mechanisms of mistrust, boredom etc. I love the playfulness of children...
ReplyDeleteI agree this was a wonderful project. It reminds me of the reinventions of language some writers have attempted eg. Rimbaud's sonnet ascribing colours and characteristics to each of the vowels; Joyce's made-up vocabulary in Finnegans Wake. Children and poets both believe in the tactile opacity of language; in words, letters and alphabets as concrete things to be played with and enjoyed beyond their functional sense.
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