Yanlin Zhu

The sci-fi story is really fascinating for both its content and its form. The whole story is consisted of two parallel stories: the process of translating the alien’s language, and the past (or the future?) of the entire life of her daughter. The author gave a profound analysis on topics including linguistic relativity, free will, teleology, and ontology of beings. The author tended to presume a completely different language (the Heptapod A and B) to imagine a new way of thinking about the world. Rather than a linear mindset, the aliens followed an overlying and superimposed mindset that could create a script for communications. Through the way the author interacted with the aliens, the author tried to show us how deep down can the form of language can affect the content of it. The author used a formal transition in the storytelling to put this idea to an extreme: the juxtaposition of her daughter’s life and her own life, representing how the mindset of the main character in the story has changed by the different lingual systems. Generally speaking, the author managed to deliver his philosophical thoughts by uniting the form and the content while composing a really intriguing story.

• How do aliens in the story language and communication style different from the human language (oral, pictographic, phonetic, etc.)

The aliens’ communication style is non-linear and is written by layering up different meanings to a similar structure. The way aliens express themselves is different from human communication mainly due to the difference in thinking and words. They do not have the concepts such as ending. In their oral language, they often integrate onomatopoeia, which is hard for humans to understand.

• How does the physical structure of our body inform the way we communicate? How about the aliens?

The human body is symmetric and has a clear distinguishment of forward and backward, making our belief in linear communication that has a start and an end. The Heptapod’s bodies are radial symmetry, indicating that they have no concept of direction, such as forward and backward. Therefore, they have no concept of start and end.

 

1. Introduction

         This is the first exercise that I got from the Communications Lab. The rules were simple: we each got two pieces of matt board with the size of 26.08cm*32.5cm and a black square with the size of 13cm*13cm. We must cut the square into pieces and glue all the pieces to the matt board.

2. General View

 

         This is how it looks sticking on the display board in our classroom. These two works were inspired by my personal experience during my internship. The theme for these two works is Modernity. The one on the left

3. Detail for Each

the Commute

        The first work is about what I see on the daily basis: people in suit and tie are always rushing and walking. I tried to add the concept of motion to the image to show the bustle-and-hustle feeling. To create the busy atmosphere, the concept of zoetrope and Edweard Muybridge mentioned during the class inspired me greatly. 

A man walking. Photogravure after Eadweard Muybridge, 1887.

        Mentioned Gestalt Theory: Closure, Similarity, Proximity, Good Figure.

the SkyScraper

        If the Commute is mainly what I see through from below, the Skyscraper is more likely to be the birds eye view looking on the whole. This work aims at presenting my general perception of my working space as well as the whole society. This work can be interpreted in several ways due to the flexibility provided by its components, random black blocks. My original intension for this work is the deconstruction of a skyscraper which is constantly collapsing from the very bottom. At the same time, the fallen pieces construct an individual who is looking down at a piece of the ruins and thinking. It can also be interpreted the other way around, which the individual donate itself and is voluntarily sucked into the skyscraper. Still, since it is a rather abstract work, it’s free to all interpretations. Another noticeable feature is the capitalized Scraper in the title. The construction workers use scrapers to flat the walls and bricks, which is similar to what I was doing last night, cutting and sticking these black blocks.

an image of a scraper

        Mentioned Gestalt Theory: Good Figure, Similarity, Proximity