one, 2007, ink on paper, wooden frame, hardware, dimensions variable
I took the word
“one” and found its synonyms from the Encarta World English Thesaurus. I then
found the synonyms for those four words and continued the exponentially growing
process of finding synonyms until I had five generations of words with approximately
1300 words total. In addition, I presented a history of the written word
"one," as it develops through calligraphy, typewritten text to
handwritten post-it notes. The synonyms literally evolve through each
generation as they are presented down the wall.
The words are written, printed and typed
from the top of the wall to the bottom in the following media. The first row is
the word “one” hand written in calligraphy, the second row has four words
printed using a printing press, the third row is typed with a typewriter, the
fourth row is typed with a computer and the last row is hand written on post-it
notes. Calligraphy was a beautiful and time consuming process, the privilege of
an elite, educated few. Each subsequent generation of text presented on the wall
took less time and energy to produce, allowing for the faster circulation of
ideas. The exception is the post-it notes, which return to the process of hand
written text and aren’t usually used to publicize new ideas.
|