Language and Noise

A review of Bethany Collins' lecture at University Galleries on October 26, 2016.

                I found Bethany Collins’ “What Good is Science Fiction to Black People?” to be one of the most intriguing pieces in University Galleries’ current exhibition, so I was thrilled to find that she would be giving a lecture about her work. This talk proved very enlightening as I was able to learn more about her focus on deconstructing language in order to find its meaning in relation to race and the human experience. I now feel I understand the pieces at the show much better, as well as getting the opportunity to view a lot more of her work.

                Collins began her presentation talking about her White Noise series, and how she was “literally deconstructing that language [the sentence in the piece] in an attempt to deconstruct the meaning behind it.” These pieces consisted of the words of a sentence, usually some sort of problematic or strange statement pertaining to her race, such as “Do people ever think you’re white?” She repeats this statement over and over in white letters on black paper, but scatters them into constellation-like patterns so the sentence is no longer legible. Through this repetitive process, she is able to think through this statement more in order to find out all the meaning behind it, and the reasons someone would say this. She is also able to make, in her words, “something that started off as problematic….maybe more beautiful.” This was something I found very compelling about her work; it has all these intellectual ideas behind it which could be thought about and argued over for days, but it can also be appreciated as a beautiful and unique use of language.

"Dont You Think That's A Little Elitist?" (2010) from the White Noise series

Quiddity (2014), one of the contranyms

                Other, later work delves deeper into the significance of language as it relates to us. Collins says that “we assume language is neutral” but “if language is able to shift, it must shift according to some kind of index of us.” The idea that language reflects the culture which created it seems obvious on the one hand, but on the other, it is not something we usually acknowledge. She is right that most people see language as simply a carrier for whatever meaning they choose to give it. She attempts to illustrate that connection to us by using dictionary definitions of contranyms, words which have two definitions which apparently contradict each other. This calls attention to some of the absurdity of language, making us think about how it is a man-made creation which is capable of flaws and bias. She erases everything but the definitions she wants to appear with her own spit in some cases, reinforcing that connection to the body and human nature.

Grey (2014), the beginning of Collins' work with dictionary definitions

Bound (2015), eraser shavings from one of the contranyms

                I feel privileged to have received a glimpse into Bethany Collins’ working process. Her work is very thought-provoking on its own, but now that I also have this background knowledge, I feel like I have a lot more avenues to consider when attempting to analyze it. She explained what she was trying to accomplish very well without going into too much detail about what exactly every piece means, so that her work still retains the mystery and need for thought which drew me to it originally.

Colorblind Dictionary (2013-2014), a dictionary with everything relating to color erased out

Southern Review,1987 (2014) magazine pages with the text blocked out with charcoal