1. Line of Enquiry
This project began with a mistake.
The phrase ‘subway mouth’ appeared through a mistranslation. Instead of correcting it, I became interested in what the mistake could produce. I used it as the starting point for a sequence of one hundred word transformations. Each word was connected to the previous one through association, gradually moving away from the original phrase before eventually returning to the word ‘subway mouth’.
This circular sequence made me think about language as something that is constantly changing rather than fixed. Once the sequence returned to ‘subway mouth’, I began a second experiment based on sound. Starting from the same word, I followed small phonetic changes to generate new words and connections. What began as a linear sequence gradually developed into a branching phonetic map.
At the beginning of the project, I was interested in how words shift through association and sound. As the map expanded, I became less interested in individual words and more interested in the systems that organise them.
Later, my focus shifted towards another language system: e-commerce platforms. While researching Amazon product titles, I noticed that language is often written not only to communicate meaning but also to improve visibility within search results. Product titles are organised through keywords, categories, and algorithmic logic.
This shift led me from phonetic systems to platform systems. Rather than asking how meaning changes through sound, I became interested in how meaning changes through visibility and searchability.
Through a publication, speculative product catalogue, and generated product titles, I investigate how language is shaped by these systems.
My current enquiry is: What happens to meaning when language is optimised for searchability?
2. Annotated Bibliography
1. Saussure, F. de (2011) Course in General Linguistics. New York: Columbia University Press.
Quote
‘In language there are only differences without positive terms.’
Response
This reference helped me think about language as a system of relationships rather than a collection of individual words. What interests me is the idea that meaning is produced through differences. This became important during the early stage of my project, where I developed a sequence of one hundred word transformations. Instead of focusing on definitions, I focused on how one word could gradually shift into another. Saussure helped me understand these changes as a chain of relationships rather than isolated meanings.
2. Crystal, D. (2003) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Key Idea
Language changes continuously through everyday use, pronunciation, and social interaction.
Response
Crystal discusses how spoken language develops over time through gradual change. This supported my phonetic experiments, where words developed through slight shifts in pronunciation. The reference helped me see phonetic variation as a natural process rather than an artificial design method. It encouraged me to think of my word sequence as a form of linguistic evolution and transformation.
3. Carroll, L. (1871) Through the Looking-Glass. London: Macmillan.
Key Idea
Language can be playful, flexible, and open to multiple interpretations.
Response
This reference explores the playful nature of language. What interests me is how language can move between logic and nonsense. During the early stages of the project, I was interested in unexpected word transformations and linguistic play. Carroll helped me think about language not only as a communication tool but also as a space for experimentation.
4. Maurer, L., Paulus, E., Puckey, J. and Wouters, R. (2013) Conditional Design Manifesto.
Key Idea
Design can emerge through systems, rules, and conditions rather than predetermined outcomes.
Response
The Conditional Design Manifesto introduced me to rule-based design methods. Instead of designing final outcomes directly, the manifesto focuses on creating systems that generate outcomes. This approach became important when developing my one-hundred-word sequence and phonetic map. Rather than choosing words randomly, I established rules for transformation and connection.
5. Garland, K. (1994) Mr Beck’s Underground Map. Harrow Weald: Capital Transport.
Key Idea
Maps can prioritise relationships and connections rather than geographical accuracy.
Response
This reference influenced the visual structure of my phonetic map. What interests me is how complex information can be simplified into routes and relationships. Beck’s map focuses on connections rather than physical reality. This encouraged me to think about language spatially. In my project, words became stations and phonetic shifts became routes.
6. Russell, L. (2020) Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto. London: Verso.
Key Idea
Errors and glitches can reveal hidden structures within systems.
Response
Russell presents the glitch as a productive form of disruption. This became important because my project began with a mistranslation. Instead of correcting ‘subway mouth’, I treated it as a starting point. The reference encouraged me to see mistakes as opportunities for investigation rather than problems to solve.
7. Williams, R. (1983) Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. London: Fontana Press.
Key Idea
The meanings of words change across different historical, cultural, and social contexts.
Response
Williams became increasingly important as my project moved away from phonetic experimentation and towards platform language. I was particularly interested in the dictionary format of the book. This influenced the structure of my publication, which also uses individual entries to investigate language.
8. Fuchs, C. (2014) ‘A Critique of Linguistic Capitalism’, TripleC, 12(1), pp. 15–35.
Key Idea
Language can function as a form of value production within digital economies.
Response
Fuchs helped me understand Amazon product titles as more than descriptions. Product titles are carefully constructed to attract attention, increase visibility, and support commercial goals. Language becomes part of an economic system.
9. Noble, S.U. (2018) Algorithms of Oppression. New York: NYU Press.
Key Idea
Search systems and algorithms actively shape visibility and access to information.
Response
This reference became important when researching Amazon product titles. What appears to be a simple product description is often structured around algorithmic requirements. Noble helped me understand searchability as a force that influences language.
10. Srnicek, N. (2017) Platform Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Key Idea
Platforms operate as infrastructures that organise information, interaction, and economic activity.
Response
Srnicek helped me understand Amazon as more than an online marketplace. It is a system that shapes how products, language, and users interact. This reference provided a broader context for my project.
11. Goldsmith, K. (2011) Uncreative Writing. New York: Columbia University Press.
Key Idea
Collection, copying, and transformation can function as creative methods.
Response
Goldsmith became highly relevant when I began collecting Amazon product titles. Instead of inventing entirely new language, I worked with existing structures and patterns. The project transforms found language into speculative products and generated listings.
12. Carrión, U. (1975) The New Art of Making Books. Amsterdam: Self-published.
Key Idea
A book can function as a structure and system rather than simply a container for text.
Response
Carrión became important when developing Searchable Products™ as a publication. The project is not only about the content of individual entries but also about how they are organised and experienced collectively.
3. From Phonetic Systems to Platform Systems
The early stages of the project focused on phonetic variation and mistranslation. Over time, the project shifted towards systems. The phonetic sequence became a map, and the map eventually led to a study of platform language. Rather than asking how words relate through sound, I became interested in how language is organised through visibility and searchability.
4.1 Critical Analysis – Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams’ Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society studies how important words change meaning across different historical and social contexts. Rather than treating words as fixed definitions, Williams shows that language is constantly shaped by culture, politics, and everyday use. What interests me is that he approaches language as something that is always changing rather than something stable.
This reference became important during the development of my project because my work also began with a single word. The phrase ‘subway mouth’ appeared through mistranslation. Instead of correcting the mistake, I used it as the starting point for a sequence of one hundred word transformations. At first, I was mainly interested in how words could shift through association and phonetic change. However, after reading Williams, I began to think less about individual words and more about the systems that shape meaning.
One aspect of Keywords that influenced me was its structure. The book is organised through entries rather than a continuous narrative. Each word becomes a site of investigation. Williams does not simply define words; he examines how meanings change over time and across different contexts. This approach influenced the structure of my publication. Rather than presenting a linear story, I organise the work through individual entries. Each entry focuses on a single concept and explores how meaning is constructed within a particular system.
Williams also argues that words do not have completely fixed meanings. Their meanings are shaped by the situations in which they are used. This idea became increasingly relevant as my project moved from phonetic systems to platform language. In the first stage of the project, words changed through sound and association. In the later stages, words changed through search systems, algorithms, and platform structures. Although these stages appear different, both investigate how meaning is produced through relationships rather than existing independently.
This became particularly important when I began researching Amazon product titles. Product titles often appear repetitive or unnatural, but they reveal a different logic. Their purpose is not only to communicate meaning but also to increase visibility. Language becomes organised around searchability. Through Williams, I began to understand this not simply as a technological issue but as a linguistic one. Just as words change through culture and history, they can also change through digital systems and platform environments.
Another reason this reference was useful is that it helped connect different stages of my project. At first, the project focused on mistranslation, phonetic variation, and language play. Later, it shifted towards e-commerce platforms and speculative products. Williams provided a framework that allowed me to see these stages as part of the same enquiry. In both cases, I am interested in how meaning is produced, organised, and transformed.
Williams helped me connect the different stages of the project. Although the outcomes changed significantly, the central question remained focused on how meaning is produced through systems. It encouraged me to treat language as material rather than content and helped me move from studying individual words to investigating the systems that shape them. This shift eventually led to my current enquiry: what happens to meaning when language is optimised for searchability?
4.2 Critical Analysis – Kenneth Goldsmith
Kenneth Goldsmith’s Uncreative Writing challenges traditional ideas of originality and authorship. Rather than encouraging writers to create entirely new content, Goldsmith proposes collection, copying, reorganisation, and transformation as creative methods. What interests me is his suggestion that creativity can emerge from existing language rather than from producing something completely new.
This reference became particularly relevant during the later stages of my project. After developing a one-hundred-word sequence and a phonetic map, I began collecting Amazon product titles. At first, I was interested in their unusual structure. Many titles appeared repetitive, excessive, or unnatural. However, after studying them more closely, I realised that they followed a clear system. Product titles are often organised around keywords, features, benefits, audiences, and search terms.
Rather than inventing a completely new language, I began working with the language that already existed on the platform. This approach closely relates to Goldsmith’s idea of using found material as a creative resource. Instead of treating Amazon titles as commercial text, I treated them as a form of linguistic material that could be collected, analysed, and transformed.
One aspect of Uncreative Writing that influenced my project was its emphasis on systems rather than individual expressions. Goldsmith often shifts attention away from originality and towards the processes that organise language. This perspective encouraged me to focus less on individual words and more on the structures that produce them. As a result, I became increasingly interested in the rules behind Amazon product titles rather than the products themselves.
This approach directly informed the development of Searchable Products™. The project transforms existing platform language into speculative product listings. Words such as ‘air’, ‘memory’, ‘distance’, ‘shadow’, and ‘silence’ are translated into product titles using patterns collected from Amazon. The resulting products do not exist, but the language surrounding them remains familiar because it follows the same structural logic.
Goldsmith’s ideas also influenced the development of the product generator. The generator allows users to enter a word and receive a speculative product listing based on patterns collected from Amazon. Rather than producing completely original language, the system reorganises existing structures. The output is generated through repetition, recombination, and transformation.
This process raises questions about authorship. If a title is produced through a predefined structure, who is the author? Is it the user who enters the word, the designer who creates the system, or the platform language that provides the model? These questions became increasingly important as the project moved from collecting language to generating language.
Goldsmith helped me understand that the project was not only about writing new language, but also about reorganising language that already exists. It provided both a method and a critical perspective. Goldsmith helped me understand that creativity can emerge through selection, organisation, and transformation rather than invention alone. More importantly, his work encouraged me to think about language as a system that can be analysed, reconfigured, and reproduced. This perspective continues to shape the way I approach platform language and searchability in Searchable Products™.