Library of Lexemes, 2023 (LL23)

 

Objects, symbols, the human body. They can all tell a story. Whether it be about your activity or your business.

 

Lexemes are basic units of meanings. They can give one idea multiple forms of communication. Lexicons consist of lexemes. They can be considered the vocabulary of a language or subject, including visuals. We don’t have to get too much into the science and anthropology of this project, but lexicons don’t always correlate with linguistics. This is why I wanted to create a collection of, what you may call, icons. However, it’s important to note that these ‘icons’ can be diverged and converged however you’d like to portray information with minimal text but easy to understand.

 

Drawing is a core skill with which artists and designers can not only create, but communicate and collaborate. This can be a challenge when it comes to visualizing complex or even simple ideas and data. Sometimes, in interdisciplinary settings, facilitating creative thinking involves both drawing and diagramming. Maybe a culture of rapid prototyping should emerge – where imagery can become 2D models of a community of ideas. But focusing on real-time sketching might be easier than some believe. In co-creating, there should be an empowered sharing and extraction of ideas.

 

What I’ve composed to show is only a fraction of what I’ve hand-drawn, digitally scanned, and vectorized – translating into a type of graphic that can be manipulated in a multitude of ways. I didn’t want to get too specific in grouping these individual units, not even labeling them. For these sorts of practices and studies, like TNL23 & WSA23, I try to set a more artistic tone and allow for your own interpretations of what you see. Library of Lexemes, 2023 might seem even funner than the others, which I probably shouldn’t say. But, as usual, I encourage you to create your own story (just don’t tell it using my work without permission).

 

Now that I have this small library, I can put together information within information to help myself and others communicate and collaborate. As with most libraries, this can expand infinitely, and I am hoping for further studies – not just for artists, scientists, or designers – but for everyone, everything! I also encourage you to practice what I’ve mentioned as rapid prototyping. It doesn’t have to look a certain way, but create your own gestures. Sketch what you observe and imagine. Sketch what you say. Draw as many pieces as possible and, like a puzzle, put them together and see what image you created.

 

Does it tell a story? Are you visualizing and interpreting information, data, or knowledge? What kind and who’s?