Untranslatable 8
What is the purpose of writing something that cannot be read?
Following the installation “Ariadne’s Thread” at GalleryGallery, I continued using the eight ancient, untranslatable writing systems as a motif.
In-Between Understanding • 「わかる、わからないの狭間に」
2019 • ramie, wool, monofilament • Gallery Maronié, Kyoto
In symbols and codes that we don’t have personal access to, there is a tension between knowing that a text has meaning and not being able to understand it yourself. Do you ignore a fugitive meaning and embrace these symbols for beauty alone, or do you continue to hold that tension in your hands?
Code-Switch 2019 • ramie, wool, monofilament
In addition to the 8 untranslatable languages (pink panel), this work also contains a sentence in combination English-Japanese characters that I designed (yellow panel). The characters fit corresponding English letters into the design of hiragana glyphs. Only with clues (and the ability to read both English and Japanese), it is possible to be read.
