the work 'wonder'
The work wonder consists of the addition of the word 'wonder' to an encountered context. The word works there as a way of seeing or understanding. The word is one centimeter high, colored in white, in a sans serif font, Arial. This makes it an addition that does not calls for attention in the given context. It has to catch ones eye accidentally, otherwise one may easily see past it.
A word is the most basic semantic unit in a language. Often it refers directly to a case that exists. In the case of 'wonder' the word as a noun does not refer to an existing thing, but to a thought-thing, a concept - and as a verb to an action. Within the sentence syntax, a word has a semantic role, which gives and receives its meaning partly from the sentence structure. In this work, the generative semantics of and through the word are partly determined by its environment - exactly as within the sentence. As a noun and a verb, the word, in the context in which it is placed, has a semantic role in a grammatical context.
'Seeing' is an ambiguous concept. It can refer to perceiving in the literal sense, but also refers to 'understanding' by the mind (insight) and the imagination. In this work, seeing is activated in this double sense. The word is perceived and grasped, but in the syntax of the relevant context.
The word 'wonder' has a circle of meaning that comes together around: amazement and wonder, and the latter in the sense of: wondering in the most positive sense, being curious about something or someone without already grasping this or that. Also important is the meaning of qualities or achievements that are far above or beyond the ordinary and expected. (Dictionary of the Dutch Language) In English the word has a similar space of meaning. (Cambridge Dictionary)
It interests me to discover how these semantics function in the understanding of the encountered contexts. By putting the word in and applying it, I want to discover how it is seen in that context, in which it is read and how that context can be seen in syntax with the word.
A word is the most basic semantic unit in a language. Often it refers directly to a case that exists. In the case of 'wonder' the word as a noun does not refer to an existing thing, but to a thought-thing, a concept - and as a verb to an action. Within the sentence syntax, a word has a semantic role, which gives and receives its meaning partly from the sentence structure. In this work, the generative semantics of and through the word are partly determined by its environment - exactly as within the sentence. As a noun and a verb, the word, in the context in which it is placed, has a semantic role in a grammatical context.
'Seeing' is an ambiguous concept. It can refer to perceiving in the literal sense, but also refers to 'understanding' by the mind (insight) and the imagination. In this work, seeing is activated in this double sense. The word is perceived and grasped, but in the syntax of the relevant context.
The word 'wonder' has a circle of meaning that comes together around: amazement and wonder, and the latter in the sense of: wondering in the most positive sense, being curious about something or someone without already grasping this or that. Also important is the meaning of qualities or achievements that are far above or beyond the ordinary and expected. (Dictionary of the Dutch Language) In English the word has a similar space of meaning. (Cambridge Dictionary)
It interests me to discover how these semantics function in the understanding of the encountered contexts. By putting the word in and applying it, I want to discover how it is seen in that context, in which it is read and how that context can be seen in syntax with the word.