Henge of Light and Language (floor component of the installation)
Detail of the installation showing the stones on triangular bases emitting colored light
“Henge of Light and Language” is a gallery installation which uses principles of ancient geometry to reveal the patterning hidden in the spelling of words. The circle of stones and colored light comprising the henge are a physical model of a uniquely spaced, circular configuration of the alphabet. This installation is related to the permanent site-specific work being developed on Ministers Hill in Bridgton, Maine.
Wall component of the installation (the screen displays a sequence of images)
By inscribing lines from letter to letter according to a word’s spelling, a visualization of the patterning of the letter-sequence is created. All variations in imagery result entirely from the spelling of words because the alphabetic configuration is fixed. (Color is referenced because language and color perception are processed in the same part of the brain).
Image series displayed on the wall component of the installation. The upper left image illustrates how the fixed configuration of alphabetic points/stones is based on a pentagonal symmetry of vowels (it’s design is created by spacing the five regular vowels equally and then spacing the consonants equally on the arcs between the vowels). The next three images illustrate an unexpected synchronicity between word-based meaning and the patterning encoded in the spelling of words.
“Henge of Light & Language” and the project on Ministers Hill are an extension of an ongoing project. Michael Winkler has always used the same process (which he developed over 40 years ago) to create his abstract forms — the forms are a spatial depiction of the patterning encoded in the letter-sequences of written words. As previously mentioned, the Roman Alphabet is treated as a circular configuration of 26 letter-points organized around a pentagonal symmetry of vowels. The abstract forms are created by drawing lines which interconnect the letter-points according to the spelling of words. All variations in the imagery result entirely from spelling because the circular configuration of alphabetic points is fixed or constant, it doesn’t change from word to word. The henge is a model of this circular configuration of letter-points.
This next sequence of images shows how the patterning encoded in spelling reflects early artifacts of the symbolic mind. The spelled-form of the word ‘CURLED’ is shown with a shell-bead adornment which is over 100,000 years-old (the bead’s discovery indicated that modern language was older than previously thought—adornments are evidence of culture, culture requires language). Some researchers believe modern language is much older than 100,000 years.
The project is rooted in the idea that patterns arising from the innate mechanisms of meaningful perception were unintentionally replicated in the signs of language and the modeling of information. The organizing principles underlying these patterns are found both in Nature and in the earliest artifacts of the emergence of the symbolic mind.
The final sequence of images is shown above. The unusual geometric pattern shown in the image on the left results from the unique spacing of the fixed configuration of alphabetic points. The 325 inscribed lines illustrate all possible letter-relationships of all words and none-words in every language which can be written using the Roman Alphabet. The statement of spelled-forms on the right is enlarged in the image below.
As noted, the fixed method of transformation preserves all relationships within the spelling of words–no aspect of the imagery is arbitrary (circles don’t have inherently preferenced point-locations; a vowel/consonant distinction is inherent in language; and the letter-sequence of a word’s spelling is the only source of information used to plot the forms).
Since language is an evolutionary product of human awareness which arises naturally and isn’t designed according to any logical plan, the choices involved are mediated by innate or intuitive factors rather than logical associations. We wouldn’t expect to see any meaningful association between the patterning of the signs for words and their signified concept. If any relationship is evident, we assume it is simply an isolated instance of coincidence. But in fact, an apparent connection between the patterning of the code of the signifier and a meaning associated with the signified concept isn’t uncommon (see hundreds of spelled-forms here). Perhaps Carl Jung’s conception of the existence of a universal synchonicity is correct, or perhaps human beings make meaningful choices intuitively without any intention of doing so. For over 100 years, Ferdinand de Saussure’s assumption that the signs of language are arbitrary has been treated as fact. But new discoveries about the nature of the signs of language indicate that Saussure’s assumption was based on a misunderstanding of how they function (philpapers.org/rec/WINNDS).
