language as machine, the gallery

Ever-evolving, language stores the history of our collective past, holds our memories, allows us to articulate our thoughts, and preserves a foundation of knowledge that allows us to collaboratively build toward the future.

Language is a signal from the past.

What might have been if language evolved differently? What graphic encodings could be speculated given a different set of historical and contextual circumstances? What were the forces that propagated some language encodings, while consuming others? What insights can be uncovered as we navigate the historical paths and landmarks that chart the current shapes of our language?

Language is a map.

This exhibition presents a collection of creative research and artistic expression that explores language as a machine. A machine that compresses, records, and transmits a collective cultural knowledge. A machine of many operators servicing many objectives. A machine that labors, degrades, is repaired, upgraded. A machine that calculates and predicts. A machine that remembers and forgets.

Language is a machine.

Works featured in this exhibition were produced by:  Basma Hamdy, Fatima Abbas, Fatima Al Dosari, Giovanni Innella, Hala Amer, Joshua Rodenberg, Lana Abou Selo, Martin Juras, Michael Hersrud, Rab McClure, Sara Al-Afifi, Sara Khalid, Selma Felzullaj, Shima Aeinehdar.