Languages: Evolution X Dissolution
Parsons School of Design
2021
There are more than 7000 languages alive in the world today, out of which only 23 account for more than 50% of the world's population. Around 3000 languages are on the brink of extinction or are already in the process of dying out. Most people who speak more than one language are witnessing this rapid descent within their lifetime, yet, it's not widely considered a point of concern.
A Utopian/Dystopian Future of Languages
Regardless of the different theories that consider language to have either appeared in the evolution process suddenly or evolved during the course of thousands of years- whether it is a culturally inculcated phenomenon or an innate faculty that is genetically coded, it is agreed upon that languages started as gestures and sound was attached to it later.
Languages were invented to coordinate, communicate and commune. There were thousands of different languages forming different cultures but the advent of more tools and technology started leading to cultural assimilation, mixed languages, abbreviations etc. Initially, what looked like a problem because of the sentimental value attached to it, was re-imagined as the natural result of evolution, when looked at from a different critical lens.
In this map of Languages, a future is imagined/projected wherein, considering the current rate of languages dying out, a point of a single global language is reached. This language, over the course of thousands of years continues to be reduced and abbreviated to a point where spoken language is dead altogether.
Gestures are left and sound is removed.
This apex of silence can be the result of either a complete Artificial Intelligence dominance (dystopian) or because human cognitive abilities became developed and advanced enough to replace spoken language by Telepathy (utopian).
This journey of starting with no spoken language to ending with no spoken language gave rise to a map that is circular, representing continuum.
3D Visualization
This map was then translated into an art installation.
What we had as a result was an experience of looking at a representation of an imagined future from the outside- a future that entails elements of the past, materialized by different mediums and textures like newspapers, yarn, symbols, tools etc. as well as the evolving present, manifested in the form of the audio-video compilation.
