The Words, 2009 – 2010

(in collaboration with Dare-Dare)

This project considers the urban space as a collective space of reflection on the words that we all use.

More than 150 words were written on the sidewalks of Centre-sud district in Montreal (lesmots.dare-dare.org). They stem from a long investigation tracking their appearance and disappearance in the Petit Larousse illustré over the 20th century. (This investigation began with my astonishing discovery of Jean-Claude Raimbault’s Les disparus du XXe / Les 10 000 mots disparus et les 18 000 mots apparus au XXe siècle.) I wanted to stage the different semantic fields involved in these appearances/disappearances: order (appearance), celebration (disappearance), economy (appearance), idleness and laziness (disappearance), occult sciences (disappearance), and classification (appearance), fear (appearance), etc.

Which were these waves – appearance and disappearance of words – that over time confine a specific thought? These words that enter and exit our mouths, appearing one day – we don’t know exactly why – and sticking to us for many years: what are they carrying? Through this urban intervention, I wanted to engage a critical reflection about how words transform and limit our thought, or, better put, our capacity to think singularly.