The Power of Words

"Word association gives new meaning to the alphabet."

This project from Erin Hanson titled "new abc's" recently caught my eye, as the concept of words and their impact & associations reminded me of some of the works of Richmond's own Meena Khalili, whose "Ink. Paper. Print." collection is currently on display at the Main Richmond Public Library.

Hanson explores the association of common words (and letters) that are synonymous with other phrases or words in the English language - which are visually represented in a set of common alphabet flashcards. The full set, A-Z, can be found on Flickr here.




Meanwhile, Khalili's "Garbage Does Not Lie" process exploration for thesis work entailed using, "The contents of my trash can spell out a phrase that when left out for less than a day, disperse and disappear. Photographs were taken every hour between 6am and 6pm on the first day. By 6am on the second day, each article was gone."

Click here to view her exploration of the subject, and visit Dooley Hall in the Main branch to take in her print work. Artwork from the Richmond Public Library's fellow featured artist, Kevin Lee Curry, can be seen in the Second Floor Gallery.

Do you know who else has words? In the form of books? Your local Richmond Public Library branch!

Come check us out and create some word associations of your own.