New York Telephone Conversation
One of the common threads that runs through my work is an exploration of communication (my Tussie Mussie collection is the perfect example of this).
I’m obsessed with how we humans try (and often hilariously fail) to understand each other, particularly how we change the way we speak depending on who we're talking to, or the context of the conversation.
We're constantly playing this elaborate game of connection, from those moments where our words completely miss their mark, to the clever ways we deliberately twist and manipulate language to obscure our meaning (such as secret languages - but more on those later). And that’s not even taking into consideration all the different forms of visual and non-verbal communication there are (art being a major one in and of itself, of course 😜).
As someone who's spent most of her life feeling like she's reading from a completely different script than everyone else, I can't help but be drawn to how we use language to find our place in the world.
With that in mind, here are 5 things (about communication) to delight you:
"Through the art of floriography, a coded means of communication more commonly referred to as the language of flowers, emotional intimacy has been allowed to flourish where it may otherwise be repressed." The ultimate symbolic language! If you're interested in learning more about the art of floriography (on which the Tussie Mussie collection is based) then I recommend starting with this.
I thought this film came out quite recently, but apparently it was released in 2016 which makes me feel hideously old. Anyway, Arrival captivated me with the premise that if aliens ever make contact we should probably try to communicate with them rather than blowing them up (plus the visual language they’ve designed is gorgeous!). Check out the trailer here - it’s well worth a watch (or a rewatch).
"For decades, psychologists have ignored the fact that many autistic people have no problems communicating with other autistic people. As recent research shows, the problem isn’t that we can’t manage social communication, it is that our communication is radically different from allistic (non-autistic) communication. It isn’t that we don’t follow social rules of conversation, it is that we follow our own rules." Funny how a 'difference' in communication is described as a 'deficit' when it's outside the mainstream. Also explains why neurodivergent people tend to move in packs.
"Gen Zers in their 20s are looking on in horror at who is inheriting the internet from them, with many posting videos of their own calling their younger counterparts and their “brainrot” language “scary” and accusing them of not being able to read or write." I think this is so funny. I've long been fascinated with the way language (especially English) evolves over time, and the new generation of slang is delightfully unhinged. I have no idea what any of it means but I'm happy it exists #eldermillennial
Finally, I read somewhere recently that small talk is basically just humans making comforting sounds at each other to prove that they’re safe, and suddenly it all makes sense! Just knowing that makes me far more inclined to join in. Also, it reminded me of this glorious song.
