Methods of translating
Singing translates Bertolt Brecht’s wartime motto into a trans-sensory, translingual installation. The poem is encoded as Braille, punched onto a music-box paper strip, and set to play when visitors turn the handle. Simultaneously, the music-box paper strip is printed with visible text that connects the Braille to keep readability. This poem is singing in the dark, heard, seen, and touched. At the same time, the poem was translated into multiple languages and embedded into the music box through a set of base cards, extending the work beyond a single linguistic system. Alongside the original text, I wrote two parallel poems using the same structure as comparative responses, placing translation, imitation, and authorship in dialogue.
The work explores how to transfer information when language fails. Presented as an intimate sensory object or an array of activated boxes, the work invites audiences to listen, touch, and share a collective, polyphonic memory.
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