#WhenWordsFail

A collective expression of the way we are feeling now. 

#WhenWordsFail is a WebXR experience that creates space for the nonverbal expression of feelings bubbling just below the surface.  

Sometimes language is not the best tool of expression.  Words are often inadequate to express the depth, often invisible impact of our experiences.   What happens when words are not enough?  How do you express yourself?  How is meaning made and understood?

#WhenWordsFail provides space to add expression to public discourse.   Visitors to the work encounter Professor Commander Justice (PCJ), who offers a gesture born of the times. Visitors can use their webcams to contribute to the environment.  Each video contribution from the public appears in the WebXR environment and adds to an expanding cacophony of supra-rational gestures.  

It is easy to believe that words are the pinnacle of human expression. Art, song, dance, gesture, ritual, sport, stillness, violence, letting go, and so on,  can invite and allow for expression that is more unbiased and open to interpretation than words typically do. Language can be powerful, but so too are other means of human expression.

Meaning is made and found in many different forms.  #WhenWordsFail honors ways of knowing and feelings often masked by the perceived efficiency of words.  It is a collective argument and evidence for the way we are feeling now. 

Two minutes 15-seconds plus user interaction time.
WebXR with volumetric video and user contributed .


Click for live version of #WhenWordsFail 
This is a work in progress slated to go live mid-to late October 2020.  It is a twin to #SayItAloud. 
As the project is still being developed it may be offline from time to time. 
 

#WhenWordsFail Team
Stephanie Dinkins, artist;  Neta Bomani,  engineer ; Char Stiles,  engineer & advisor ; Dan Shiffman, technical advisor