Looking back at the last blog entry, I think I’m beginning to go off track with the dancing/music/rhythm thing. I might come back to it, but for now need to re-focus on my main ideas. I need to do much more research around memory, language and communication, different language and script styles etc, possibly look at manuscripts in the British Library.
I’ve been reading about the work of Sylvia Ptak and Celeste Scopelites, Canadian textile artists whose work (examples pictured below) appeared in an exhibition entitled ‘Sotto Voce’. 
The curator, Marsha Wineman, refers to their examination of “the quiet spaces between communication and comprehension.” This resonates with me as I think that often space is not given to thinking time in conversation. Often the opinions of the gregarious, vocal individual are given more credence, largely because they are said with great self assurance. Each of us processes thoughts at a different speed, but often, in conversation, those who need more thinking time might miss their opportunity to participate in a dialogue. Also, thinking about a recent experience of trying to communicate with a bank via a call centre – the person answering my call introduced himself very politely, but spoke so rapidly I had no idea what he had said. He might have been speaking in another language. What is the point of speaking if you aren’t communicating? This links back to my interest in the effectiveness of spoken language as communication, and what happens when it breaks down. Another quote from Marsha Wineman seems relevant here:- “language as something more than a transparent medium of communication.” This is the bit that really interests me, I think, and makes me realise that I probably need to delve deeper into my original interests before diverting into other areas.
(I was slightly disheartened to find that Sylvia Ptak’s work shows that she has, for some time, been using techniques that I thought I had ‘discovered’ recently!)
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