“The fact of the matter is that the real world is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation.”
-Edward Sapir
Over the past year, five artists who knew little of each other’s practice were encouraged to attend studio visits to familiarize themselves with each other’s body of work as it pertains to the alphabet. The casual meetings gave way to a transparent dialogue that helped inform, challenge and validate their individual languages. Inevitable similarities and overlaps in the artists’ singular realities resulted in a conservatory of documented sensory explorations that are visually uncommon, but grounded by the alphabet. Emphasizing the alphabet as a learned out- of- body entity, the artists’ work in this exhibition captures the moment “in-between” linear thought processes where cognition begins.
Applying their own language by proxy of medium, the artists draw upon intuitive experiences to then cultivate and paraphrase original content derived from the alphabet. Observed in a state of constant motion, the artwork calls to action a desire to evolve the fixed notions of the alphabetic character and its syntax.
Collectively, the artworks in this exhibition demonstrate desires to construe and categorize as well as discard and destroy. What is ultimately created through these different processes is the possibility for new interpretations and insights. The attempt to make something new and unfamiliar reflects the ongoing search to create what cannot be defined. To quote John Rajchman, “For what is new is in fact not what is in fashion, but what we can’t yet conceive, can’t yet see, or have the sure means to judge – which is just why it forces us to think and think together.”
