Acts of translation
Isabella Kuijers
02.12.2021 - 13.01.2022
Mezzanine gallery
Acts of Translation explores the way we are able to create avatars and impressions of ourselves through the use of different mediums, in particular the use of online resources such as Instagram, Facetime and Pinterest.
In this show I have primarily used pictures from Pinterest as my source material* because they represent a sample of images one chooses rather than creates, which are part of an identity building experience. The site forms an indentation in the shape of the user; a self portrait in taste; a translation from self-concept to digital archive. This content represents a pre-existing system of information that we each use idiosyncratically, like we do alphabets and languages. The set of images preempts what we can express within this medium. Which is an echo of Wittgenstien’s “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” (1922)
A font was made to accompany these works which encodes text into cryptographic strings of ‘pins’. An attempt to indicate that the content of writing is bracketed by its format. A series of other fonts** was made over the past year to catalogue some of the different modes of communication that people use - from reading another’s body language, to employing the discourse of academia, to using the symbolic weight of objects.
*originals can be found at here
**the .otf files can be downloaded for personal use here
Bio
Isabella Kuijers was born in Cape Town in 1992. She completed a Bachelors of Fine Art with a Major in English Literature at the University of Stellenbosch in 2014 and a Masters of Fine art (with distinction) from London Metropolitan University in 2021. She has had four solo exhibitions with 99 Loop in Cape Town and exhibited in group shows at Salon91, Smith, Grande Provence and Barnard Gallery, among others. As well as working as a full time artist, Isabella writes reviews and analysis for the online publication artthrob.co.za . She divides her time between Greyton and London.
Download the catalogue here