Did you mean . . .

. . . explores the implications of using the word “word” to imply a single vessel or container of meaning. It invites DiVE participants to play around inside language itself, moving through the multiplicities of possibilities for meaning in a single word, and especially in translation. In Sanskrit, any number of words can be combined using hyphens and still be considered a single modifier, the longest of which has 54 component words joined by hyphens. Participants can select certain elements of this word with the wand and see and/or hear how they are usually defined on their own. Selecting a part of the word with the wand triggers a sound and/or an image, which build to a cacophony of sometimes meaningful, sometimes jarring collisions.

This project in virtual reality was made by Laura Doggett, Elizabeth Landesberg, David Zielinski, and Peter Lisignoli.