VLP • Volume 1

Contents

Forward 5Image 1 (chapter 1) 9Image 2 (chapter 2) 35Image 3 (chapter 3) 55Image 4 (chapter 4) 85

Visual Language Projectexperiment 1

Like a true epistemologist, I wrestled with unanswerable questions as I dove

down the rabbit hole, insistently spinning and invariably stuck with no ledge to route my escape. Suddenly a moment of clarity, ah dasein. What a lovely

moment that was, as everything grew silent, time stood still, and I gladly accepted my position amid the chaos. And as I looked down at my feet, there

was the jammed up typewriter.

I had been collecting artifacts all term, but this one seemed to encompass everything I had been thinking and feeling, yet did not exasperate my strength

with its multilayered meanings. I desperately wanted to grab it, but as I was

running late, the most practical solution was a snapshot with my iphone. I quickly staged my frame and hurried off. And while rushing to class, Wiggenstein

instantly popped back in.

I started reflecting on my recent travels, where I was forced to rely on visual cues

as a replacement for speaking the language. I soon realized how much we

overlook when in the comforts of our native tongue and how essential body language is for communicating ideas. This is not to say that words have no

benefit. But there is something deeper, more reflective, which somehow gets lost through our varying translations.

By our need to name it, we somehow limit it, loosing the complexity of its possible

meaning[s]. Maybe this is essentially what Wiggenstein meant when he spoke about deep truths that can only be grasped wordlessly? But he also denounced

the visual as a relevant form of communication without its verbal counterpart. I questioned the relevance of this theory in an age where so much of the

information we receive and interpret is visual. So in an attempt to answer this

question, I created an experiment to see how the visual language holds up.

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I emailed one hundred and thirty individuals of varying ages, origins and

professions, and asked them to participate in a nonverbal dialogue. Out of the one hundred and thirty people, sixty signed up and forty-two followed through. I

set up the participants into four groups, each group responding to a single image. They were asked to respond with their own image in return and were allowed to

interpret it in whatever way they saw fit. In everyway that I could, I attempted to

leave the project as open ended as possible so as not to influence its outcome. From the groups that were chosen to the order they were received and displayed,

all aspects were based off timing, not my interpretation. And while I initially

thought to have a verbal correspondence with the participants at the end of the project, mainly as a way to express our meaning and interpretations, I quickly

changed my mind as I started viewing the work. It became clear that the best way to honor the project and those who collaborated was to leave it to the

nonverbal, so as not to take away from a moment, which to me had profound

affects.

So here in all its glory is my first experiment into the visual language. A huge

thank you to all those who participated in the project. Your contributions literally left me speechless.

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Image 1

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Image 2

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Image 3

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Image 4

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Collaborators (in order of appearance)

Leslie Ross Robertson, Leslie Alley, EunJin Park, Marelyn LariosElka Finkenauer, Mike Brown, Mike Pargas, Ryan Russom, Raahul KhadaliyaNatassa Triviza, Catalina Barroso Luque, Honey Tavassoli, Haydar AzzouzKireilyn Barber, Gegam Kacherian, Nguyen Ly, Heather Drageset, Michelle LeightonMichael Weitzman, Jamie Green, Janet Kupchick, Milada Pisoncikova, Linda DareLindsay Buchman, Gabrielle Sagona, Richele Silva, Tiffany Semoy DavyChristine Harris-Amos, Nancy Haselbacher, Peter Lee, Rodrigo Red SandovalGus Duarte, Jared Millar, Tiffany Bradway, Marilyn Lynch, Lorna Turner

Those wishing anonymity (pages: 15, 51, 59, 65, 71, & 91)

Copyright 2014 © Jamie Russom

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.