Revised Proposal and Video

The exploration of symbols has been the fundamental impetus for many projects of mine. Symbols are, by their nature more than simply what they are visually. They are attached to an idea which allows humans to communicate over time and distance without using sound. Previously I was interested in developing a visual language that could be understood without needing to learn the language (something untrue of every writing system on the planet right now). I found myself drifting towards certain specific ideas within such a large project. Eventually I completely destroyed the project and with what was left, rebuilt it. The form it now takes is one focused on symbols that express an idea of universality and the repetition of form in the universe from micro to macro. The animations are a representation of the universal language of the universe itself. The true, naturally understood language that all humans interact with at all times and are themselves comprised of. I use Flash to explore animation and the way I want to express this idea. Flash allows me to rapidly produce snippets of ideas that I may or may not use. My development takes the form of a tree. A central trunk is the main theme I have been following from the beginning, that of language and symbol. Off of this trunk are many different paths that have lead to dead-ends; ideas that I am less interested in and don't have a place in my main project. These ideas however, just like the branches on a tree, provide the core idea with even greater strength. They feed the core and through these ideas I'm able to better understand what exactly I am doing. They allow me to define the idea. I find these dead-ends extremely important and informative to the work. The process has not surprised me; I know I often move around from idea to idea rapidly but I also know there is a reason and there is a connection even if it isn't immediately apparent. The central idea is revealed from multiple perspectives and also negatives until there is no confusion. The final form of the piece will be an animation supported by these dead-ends. It will be stored online and made accessible.

Atomic Molecular

Much change

Many thing have been left behind over the last month. The ideas of a logical, scientific language understandable by many people immediately has been completely forgotten in pursuit of more truly universal ideas. The first draft of a revised proposal:

The exploration of symbols has been the fundamental impetus for many projects of mine. Symbols are, by their nature more than simply what they are visually. They are attached to an idea which allows humans to communicate over time and distance without using sound. Previously I was interested in developing a visual language that could be understood without needing to learn the language (something untrue of every writing system on the planet right now). I found myself drifting towards certain specific ideas within such a large project. Eventually I completely destroyed the project and with what was left, rebuilt it. The form it now takes is one focused on symbols and the way humans interact with and understand them. To create visual gibberish that has essentially no meaning. To humans eyes and a human brain however this visual gibberish is given meaning through the use of symbols. The symbols I choose to explore and use are those I find at the smallest and largest of scales. Single celled organisms, atoms, molecules, planets, galaxies and the universe. From the smallest to the largest these things all share a shape and movement, one that the human eye and brain recognizes and immediately gives value to.

Considering a circular structure.


pattern.


cloud/earth pattern.

More refined version of the landscape.

Another aspect of the work I have been thinking of quite a bit is form. From the beginning I had imagined symbols on wooden blocks but wasn't entirely convinced by the idea. Now i'm revising that perspective and looking at urban elements of stone. Concrete, flag stone, etc. I have already found sizable chunks fallen from buildings, knocked off the corner of stairs, etc. I'm going to experiment etching into these surfaces. If it proves effective I will likely pursue this route.

A quick example of a landscape created from the elements i'm working with. Tone may become a necessity as a way to better communicate. The system moves further away from blisssymbolics as time goes on and more into the space of aesthetics not function. I'm no longer interested in making a script and set of symbols to be written like text. That idea is limited and derivative. I'm pursuing the usage of space to identify characters and relationships as well as developing the negative space.

This is an experiment with a form I might end up using to describe earth/land. I'm considering moving away from previous forms to a more unified and abstract system. I may make two versions. One more pictorial and one that must be learned to be understood. I have a desire to make something more interesting visually. Also something mysterious.

Just an update and a few revisions. I'm working on making modular symbols that can be strung together to create more interesting super-elements. With the updated symbol for land for instance, I can make large areas that are defined as "land" read as "land" but are more than simply a baseline. They can become more pictorial/graphic in addition to functioning as an idea.

Revisions

These are my original digital versions. Mainly digital sketches so I could see how I felt about them on the screen. John had mentioned them getting too literal and "cute". I agreed as I was feeling they lost a lot of their character in the digital transition and so I went about simplifying and revising.


I came to these forms after a bit of playing around and was also able to create some additional symbols to expand the vocabulary and give a greater sense of their interaction and the creation of words and ideas. I like the forms now, they resemble letter-forms even more while still retaining the feeling and visual expression I was looking for; a good compromise.

A Few Sketches

Some sketches that illustrate the ideas i'm working on and with. Similarities between bliss symbolics but also the desire to communicate to a greater degree and with grammar and a more complex sense of relationships between symbols.

Omniglot

Wonderful resource i've been using to take a look at a variety of alphabets, syllabaries and other visual systems in order to gain some perspective and establish a point or origin.

www.omniglot.com

I have on major internal conflict at this point; aesthetics vs function. I want to create a set of symbols that are understandable without specific cultural knowledge. A system that doesn't use the sort of cultural shorthand we often use day to day. However i'd also like to create a system that looks appealing and consistent. I do not wish to simply recreate images in order to communicate. Looking at many written forms of languages from around the world i've been inspired but also disheartened. These written forms can be so simple and beautiful because they must only communicate a sound, not an idea.

I still believe it possible, it will just take a good bit of work figuring out what makes sense and what doesn't when things are simplified. When does a stick figure become unrecognizable as a human.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/signwriting.htm - this is the page on signwriting, something that has obvious application to what i'm working on but also makes apparent how such a system can become overcomplicated. It is also pretty ugly and i'd like to make something much more elegant.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/lontara.htm - I find Lontara to be wonderful. the forms are striking and when combined they make for a beautiful and rhythmic line.

These are in a sense the extremes i'm looking at, finding a happy medium will be the main objective.

+Resources

sign writing, examples of some words/letters. this is along the lines i will be pursuing. how can i concisely represent an idea visually through symbol that is immediately apparent without cultural context.

a translation of goldilocks into signwriting.

interested in the strokes used in this piece. combination of stroke types from a variety of alphabets, syllabaries, etc.

Dr. John M. Bennett

http://dbqp.blogspot.com

http://thenewpostliterate.blogspot.com

http://www.dezeen.com/2008/08/16/asemic-scapes-by-sarah-schneider

Blogs on asemic writing and an article on asemic structure.

Resources

Reading Isotype
Author(s): Ellen Lupton
Source: Design Issues, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Autumn, 1986), pp. 47-58
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1511484

Staging Language: Milča Mayerová and the Czech Book "Alphabet"
Author(s): Matthew S. Witkovsky
Source: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 86, No. 1, (Mar., 2004), pp. 114-135
Published by: College Art Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3177403

Character complexity and redundancy in writing
systems over human history
Mark A. Changizi1 and Shinsuke Shimojo2,3
1Sloan-Swartz Center for Theoretical Neurobiology, and 2Division of Biology, Computation and Neural Systems,MC139-74,
Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
3NTT Communication Science Laboratory, Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan