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Planned
Obsolescence
2000
Temporary
vinyl lettering in Esperanto, on the Yerba Buena Center for the
Arts Theater, corner of Mission and Howard Streets, San Francisco.
Part of the "Word Art Project" curated by Yerba Buena
Center for the Arts and sponsored by Novellus Corporation.
Commissioned
by Novellus Corporation on the event of their annual product exposition,
the "Word Art Project" invited six artists to create
text-based public pieces along the theme of "communication,"
and were affixed on the sides of the event building. Novellus
is a Bay Area company that specializes in copper-based communication
cables, an alternative to fiber-optic cable material.
"Planned Obsolescence" is a sentence in Esperanto, a
late-19th Century invented language. Composited from basic Romantic
language structures, Esperanto was supposed to break down the
language gap between nations, serving as a utopian bridge between
cultures and countries. The irony today is that it is, at best,
a quaint remnant of a frozen moment of idealism.
Commercial communications technologies today wrap themselves in
the lingo of utopian connectivity, touting that it brings the
world together, glossing over the myriad and complex differences
that exist within the world and keep societies more separated
than ever regarding issues of economics, race, and class. Being
able to "talk" to someone today across long distances
via all the hi-tech implements (some of us) have access to does
not necessarily mean communication has occured on any level at
all. The English language, rather than being supplanted by a strictly
hybrid language like Esperanto, has become the dominant global
communication language of today.
"Planned Obsolescence" brings up issues of barriers
to communication and meaning. Written in a language that almost
nobody speaks (and yet it looks vaguely familiar, almost Spanish-sounding),
it was a giant billboard in an obsolete language. Taken from a
1960's basic primer on Esperanto, the phrase translates into English
as, "By means of our flying buses you will reach any part
of the world"--a rather outmoded and outdated statement today,
and, I project, as outmoded and outdated as current catchphrases
that swirl around today's communications technology will be seen
in the future.
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