‘Dictionary’ is an on-going body of work that began in 2017 exploring how we define ourselves via language, specifically a word. Conversation is an integral element to our daily collaborative practice. As an attempt to better understand each other in our collaboration we began a project of defining words and telling a story around it.

When we speak the same language there is an assumption of what each word means. What is examined in ‘The Dictionary’ is how each person’s history impacts a word’s meaning. We were told about a conference at the United Nations where a group of countries in Africa sat down to define the word ‘freedom’ before finalizing a document that would protect the freedom and human rights of their people. It was understood that they would need to come together and agree on the word itself. 

There is an erroneous premise that we see words similarly and this is often where miscommunication begins.

The Dictionary Project finds form in writing and as an auditory digital sculpture. Currently in the works is a series of books with the goal of amplifying a diverse collective voice through worldwide public participation. Together we can begin to understand how similar or different each person’s experience of a word is. There is great power in coming together. If we can understand 300 different ways of seeing a single word, we get to understand on a deeper level how our cultures and histories impact the way we see the world.

Directions

Two rules:

1. Define a word in a single sentence without looking at the dictionary.

2. Tell a personal story from your life where you have experienced that word. 300-500 words.