2011

Photographs of the performance

Threads, acrylic sheet, wood, and soil

 

Translation 2 consists of a series of steps involving a single subject being studied and translated using different types of visual languages. I used a topographic map of Mount Royal (subject) to create a tridimensional model of it. This model was already a translation from a translation; made with strings and transparent glass, it retained only the elevation lines and three views of the mountain (top, right, and left sides). Then, I transferred the threads used to create the model onto another geographic elevation. This last translation questions the transformation of identity and the impacts of language on the nature of things. This research is inspired by the work of Gunther R. Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen around the grammar of Visual design; the ways we focus on the elements of a subject that are significant for us and how we remember them and use them to talk about or represent this subject. It does not only highlights the gaps between translations but also the continuity of the message. I also investigated the anti-essentialist approach, which argue that the words we use are the ones creating categories; words are not a reflection of the world. I am experimenting with extending the concept to various other communication systems, in this case, visual language.