I saw this guy's art a few weeks ago. It consisted of words written (drawn?) on blackboard paint on canvas in pastels. I have just started uni and was wanting someone to put some input into these works if I can describe them well enough. I may need it for a future subject assignment etc.
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I am from Australia so is the artist. One of the paintings (drawings) had a word that is really two words written over the top of each other: nice & nigger. It was undecipherable/unreadable and looked as if it was another language. The others I saw were: cute/abo, mum/gin and poor/boong. Abo, gin and boong are derogatory terms for indigenous Australians. They seemed to be confronting what is reading and what is seeing. What do you think? Also the fact that they are written on a blackboard surface seems to suggest the school environment.
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Another lot of work I saw: Russian words written on black card. One was the Russian word for God written in Cyrillic script and underneath was the transliteration in English: Bog. And beside this is a picture of God. I found this interesting in that a Russian and English reader would respond differently to their on language signs. For the Russian it simply reads as God for an English bog means "#####" or "mud" or "stuck in mud" etc. The others were Russian for "fight" transliterated as "boy" and a picture of a boy and girl fighting. Another: Russian "yolk" transliterated as "ego" and a picture of an egg. What does everone think of these? Can you elaborate on these readings? I would like to hear from some semioticians if there are any!
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Any response would be greatly appreciated and will help with my education. I haven't started the semiotics subject at uni yet but am looking forward to it!
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Thank you,
Kanoods.

Quite a puzzling question!
What exactly do you want to find out. Does the viewer goes further than the visual/abstract association? Or does the actual meaning of the text should be taken into the consideration?
Or do those works have a language barrier?

I want to find out everything. Answer all those questions. I will be a first year uni student next year and have just left school so explain it in simple terms. y'know even your meaning of text.
Kanoods

OK, I will post bit by bit - too much typing for me to do it all at once. Also you can reply to let me know if what I write is helpful.

<<Or do those works have a language barrier?

Words incorporated into the painting have a long history springing from the slogans, announcements, advertising, etc. A single word or a short sentence number written/printed or else on the board or any other exclusive display device traditionally has been used to attract viewers attention to an important message it supposedly contained. I believe that this practice had created a "stereotype" of paying increased attention or better words subconscious "respect" to such displays - we read signs, billboards, warnings, price tags even more... we feel uncomfortable when not seeing one. We got used to them, they help us, explain the rules, warn about dangers, call for action.

Now about the "language barrier". I received my formal art education in Moscow (Russia) and as you probably know "plakat" (poster) art has always been one of the major part of the social realism as well as all sorts of slogans and propaganda displays.
Now I live in US and here, in the West, advertising does pretty much the same thing.
I conclude that both cultures have perhaps the same "respect" to the "word on display". I am fluent in Russian and English also little bit understand and read a few other languages written in Cyrillic or Latin letters, but will be completely at loss in China or Yemen, for example. However my eyes will be drawn to the writing like one will look for the ambulance when hearing the familiar sound of the siren.

<<For the Russian it simply reads as
<<God for an English bog means "#####"
<<or "mud" or "stuck in mud" etc.
<<The others were Russian for "fight"
<<transliterated as "boy" and a picture
<<of a boy and girl fighting. Another:
<<Russian "yolk" transliterated as "ego"
<<and a picture of an egg. What does everone
<<think of these? Can you elaborate on
<<these readings?

I do not see much magical or mystical in the effect of words/letters/sentences incorporated into the painting. I see the conceptual intent quite clearly, even when the words and letters are used as a pure abstraction.
In the above case misreading like "bog(god)" for "mud" or "boy" (fight) for "boy when seeing a girls fight" misconception created by misreading is clear - the concept in the "Girls fight" for example the concept and play is based on the traditional (strong in Russia) believe that women are the weak creatures not suitable and unskilled for a real fight, the word "BOY - the actual meaning will be battle between soldiers, not the fight" is used to enhance the impact, playing on the stereotype that war is not the business of the "weak" lady's and fighting women look ridiculous. This, in artists concept, should lead the viewer into seeing that the whole idea of fighting is stupid in general. (I am Russian, so my interpretation should be somehow close to reality, I hope)

I have had a few conceptual exhibitions in the past. One of them was inspired by my trip to Egypt. I had painted 9 canvases two of them were what will be called representational - portrait of a young boy camel rider and another one of a market place, seven others contained one sentence each written with paint squeezed right out of the paint tubes. The whole concept of the exhibition was in the name "Seven rules about the Arab world" sort of an ironic field diary - not in anyway offensive my Egyptian Arab friends laughed madly. But, I had to write the translations under each painting (texts were in Russian) and still associations and contemplation's on the text could be fully understood only by Russians.

Ilia

http://www.truefresco.com/anossov

Let me know if my answer is what you were looking for.
I read it again and looks like it covers the questions outlined by "puzzled guest". If you need more of my thoughts post the specific questions in the forum, so others can read and join in. I looked at the link that you sent me - http://www.unisa.edu.au/samstag/scholars/scholars2001/moore.htm - very interesting since the russian word "igo", as it written on the painting, means "yoke" but the most common meaning is - military occupation. Go figure!

Yes thank you it was very helpful. Is there a link between the meaning 'yolk' and 'military occupation'? Like 'mouse' the animal and 'mouse' the computer tool.

Non... zero... nada... There is no link at all.
I think what happened is that the artist thought that "yolk" in "egg yolk" and "yoke" is the same word - for Russian ear sounds the same.

So he/she looked into the dictionary and the rest is history.

i'm sure you have already considered this but, i think another vitally important element to consider with the blackboard art contrasting derogitory words for indigeneous people is, not only that it connotes an educational environment, but also that it can be erased so easily, or even that people write on a blackboard with the intention of erasing it. so that is a bit of a parallel to the stolen generation of aboriginal children whose entire identities were erased with the systematic disposal of records and the cultural bleaching which ensued therein.
the ability for a government, or any ruling body to systematically erase or devalue the experience of a group of oppressed people is what is at stake through education whether it be actual school, or media control, or general cultural dictation.
i hope that helps somehow.
that work sounds incredible. i wish i could have seen it.
debbie