2005

 

David Forbes

West End, QLD

Luggage of Babeli

Neon, wood, metal, leather, digitally scanned and manipulated images, newspapers

60 H x 360 W x 20 D cm

This work was sparked by my interest in primitive alphabets. I began by sourcing letterforms and decided on the focus of this piece: ART. I came up with 10 "art" phrases and transliterated them into obscure alphabets. Presentation is in old-style tea chests, relating to the portability (and universality) of languages. on top of this digital work is an alphabet of my own with repeating vowel shapes and one-of-a-kind consonants.

1 A picture is worth a thousand words. KOREAN

2 Art is universal. PERSIAN

3 Every picture tells a story. RUSSIAN/CYRILLIC

4 Every age gets the art it deserves. GREEK

5 I don't know art but I know what I like. HEBREW

6 Art Imitates life. CHINESE

7 My kid could do that. VIETNAMESE

8 Life is short and art is long. HIEROGLYPHICS

9 Art is a jealous mistress. ZULU

10 Any purpose perverts art. GLAGOLITIC