Line of Enquiry

This project starts from a mistranslation: “subway mouth”. I did not try to correct it. I used it as a starting point.

In the first week, I made 100 small iterations. Each step only changed a little, but over time the meaning moved a lot. The sequence slowly shifted across different ideas and then came back to “subway mouth” again. It became a loop.

In the second week, I changed my method. I moved from meaning to sound. I tested how one word can become another through small phonetic changes, like mouth, moth, mouse.

My question is: what happens if a mistake is not fixed, but continued? I am interested in how error can become a way of working. For me, language is not stable. It keeps moving, changing, and sometimes going in the wrong direction. But that “wrong” direction can also create new paths.

Annotated Bibliography

• Ahmed, S. (2017). Living a Feminist Life. Durham: Duke University Press.

Ahmed writes about thinking as a process that develops step by step. This helped me understand my project in a similar way. I did not begin with a clear plan, but started from one word and continued. Each iteration made the next one possible. Even when the result felt unclear, it still moved the project forward. This helped me focus on continuation instead of control.

• Conditional Design (2013) Conditional Design Manifesto.

This manifesto focuses on working with rules and structured variation. It suggests that differences should not be random, but should follow a logic. This idea helped me rethink my iterations. At the beginning, some changes felt too loose. Later, I focused on small and controlled shifts, especially through sound. This made the sequence more coherent. The mistake is still present, but it operates within a system.

• Adnan, E. (1985) ‘To Write in a Foreign Language’, in Schipper, M. (ed.) Unheard Words. London: Allison & Busby.

Adnan reflects on writing in a language that is not one’s first language. This made me think about my own experience. Mistakes are part of how I use English in daily life. The phrase “subway mouth” is incorrect, but it is still understandable. This reference helped me see that this kind of language is not just wrong, but connected to personal experience. Because of this, I decided to keep the mistake and work from it.

• Goldsmith, K. (2016) Against Translation: Displacement is the New Translation. Paris: Jean Boîte Éditions.

Goldsmith challenges the idea that translation should aim for accuracy. Instead, he suggests that translation always involves movement and change. This connects directly to my project. “Subway mouth” is not correct, but it produces a new direction. The meaning shifts rather than staying fixed. This supports my decision to use mistranslation as a starting point.

• Steyerl, H. (2009) ‘In Defense of the Poor Image’, e-flux Journal, 10.

Steyerl discusses how low-quality or degraded images still circulate and carry meaning. This idea helped me think about error in language. Even when something is imperfect, it can still communicate and move. In my project, the phrase changes many times and becomes less stable, but it does not stop working. Instead, it works in a different way. This helped me treat error as an active condition rather than a problem.

• Eco, U. (2001) Experiences in Translation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Eco explains that translation always involves adjustment and interpretation, rather than exact equivalence. This helped me understand that change in language is unavoidable. In my sequence, each step slightly modifies the word. These small changes can be seen as a process of negotiation between sound and meaning. This supports my idea that language is not fixed, but constantly shifting.

References

• Adnan, E. (1985) ‘To Write in a Foreign Language’, in Schipper, M. (ed.) Unheard Words. London: Allison & Busby.
• Ahmed, S. (2017) Living a Feminist Life. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Conditional Design (2013) Conditional Design Manifesto.
• Eco, U. (2001) Experiences in Translation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Goldsmith, K. (2016) Against Translation: Displacement is the New Translation. Paris: Jean Boîte Éditions.
• Steyerl, H. (2009) ‘In Defense of the Poor Image’, e-flux Journal, 10.