‘Green Street three’ – 2008
“Art is fundamentally concerned with translation; representing one thing with another. E.g. ideas transformed into actions.”
Translation is an important aspect of my work. Perhaps it is being bilingual that makes me interested in presenting in different formats or contexts. I think that Art is fundamentally concerned with translation; representing one thing with another. E.g. ideas transformed into actions. Translation often, inadvertently, alters meaning.
I’ve frequently wondered what happens when we say the same things but in slightly different ways? If some fact is true it should remain so however it is translated. But what else is added or subtracted? What nuance has been slightly altered? After all if both versions remain exactly the same it wouldn’t really be a translation.
Obviously ideas that are basic and universal are not readily altered. What about the less obvious or secondary ideas that are initially not so evident? How does translation alter them?