Posted on by — 16 Comments

Art of Text Speak

Art of text speak

 

 Art of Text Speak

Art of text speak - Are you confused by those TLAs or FLAs that materialise at the end of a text message? In case you are already discombobulated, TLAs are two or three letter acronyms and FLAs are four or five letter acronyms. No prizes for guessing what SLAs, ELAs and so on might mean. But you can give yourself a prize if you must.

Ever visualised how a person who is ROTFLMAOYSST (rolling on the floor laughing my ass off yet somehow still texting) might look? If that actually occurred, imagine the number of phones that would record the occasion and how quickly it would get onto every social media platform on the planet.

Ever wondered if the person writing LOL is really laughing out loud or simply adding that just to indulge you?

BTW (oops that should be by the way) LOL is generally not Lots of Love – unless of course you want it to be in which case don’t’ bother with LOL just add an ‘x’.

When people declare that you are their friend forever or new bestie do you melt away and say ‘how sweet’ or cynically raise an eyebrow and think who will be your bestie tomorrow. What does it mean to be FF or friends forever?
The text speak art collection explores the multi-layered meaning of a handful on text acronyms. These include LOL, CRBT, BL, FF, WYWH, GOI, FoMO, YOLO, PAW, SITD, AYCE, F2F. Don’t panic or switch off just yet as each of these will be explained shortly. In the meantime you are one click away from viewing the images here
If you would like to see them in real life – well may be not quite real life - pop along to the exhibition at the Moot Restaurant in Holmes Chapel. http://www.mootholmeschapel.co.ukThis does mean that you have to physically transport yourself rather than metaphysically via the internet galaxy. If the philosophers out there get a bit upset at the use of the word metaphysically the solution is to GOI. Until the next time…
Thanks to all of you who joined us for the launch of the exhibition on 2nd April. Thanks also to everyone who has visited the exhibition since it opened and enjoyed the food offered by the Moot. Many thanks to everyone who has made comments on the blog.
This part explains one or two of the acronyms and reasons for choosing them for the art. The latter might be made up as the author hasn’t a clue – so if you know just drop a line. Let’s begin where we left off – telling philosophers to GOI – just kidding.

GOI aka get over it must be the most over used expression in the world.

It is the substance of movies, of songs; of every day conversations. You can even get self-appointed Agony Aunts to advise you on how to get over it.

So why not make GOI the subject of art! And now it is.

Exhibition Opening - The Art of Text Speak

One visitor to the exhibition asked why the dog and cat were chosen as the subject material. It could have something to do with the fact that a dog has just moved in! A real canine kind in case anyone is thinking differently. This is in fact true and she is busy devouring slippers. The laid back dog that lacks the inertia to do anything is very much the influence behind the piece – she gave paws for thought!! Bad joke but blame the dog as she did walk all over the canvas with her muddy paws. And the dog doesn’t do cats either – they are inclined to flee in fear at the sight of her – one really shouldn’t find this LOL amusing but it is.

Another visitor asked about the composition of LOL – laugh out loud. LOL does somewhat conjure up images of loudness, of megaphones, of razzmatazz and old style gramophones and HMV. Does anyone know what this TLA stands for - if you don’t go look it up as it might be useful for some quiz trivia. We all have friends who LOL and bring smiles to people’s faces. But are we doing that when we send a text? Are we really? The opportunity to play with the famous art piece his master’s voice just could not be resisted. Poor old Nipper the terrier dog gave way to the harlequin cat – to perhaps depict the muteness of LOL in text messages. If anyone is SITD about the meaning of HMV simply re-read the text.

SITD – still in the dark although one can be forgiven for interpreting this as sitting in the dark. Could SITD be the ultimate state of Utopia? A state of perpetual cluelessness where people can blissfully go about their daily business unawares of the world around them? Consider the number of life hours that could be saved trying to figure everything out? The ambiguity in the piece is deliberate. Who is in the dark – the individual or the world around them? The dude in the piece is either all-knowing or clueless and must be someone’s relative. Maybe the reason why people turn to WYWH #420 – 420 used here as an umbrella term.

WYWH #420 – we all seem to like to escape for a while, to zone out from the world. Some go off to a retreat others find comfort nearer home. BTW 420 is a computer error but this will only be of interest to geeks or word press developers - but let's not get distracted with 400 related errors. The simple question is why do we escape and how do we escape from the every day. Moving on and zoning out from this unnecessarily thought provoking piece, one form of escapism that most enjoy is a banquet or a big feast. AYCE banquet!

SITD – still in the dark although one can be forgiven for interpreting this as sitting in the dark.

Could SITD be the ultimate state of Utopia?

A state of perpetual cluelessness where people can blissfully go about their daily business unawares of the world around them?

WYWH #420 – do we like to escape for a while, to zone out from the world.

Some go off to a retreat others find comfort nearer home.

What is your WYWH #420?

More on The Art of Text Speak...

AYCE – all you can eat. Come on folks. Are we not a food obsessed nation? Feel free to disagree but just think about the most popular TV shows – Bake Off – we don’t even need to say Great British, Master Chef, Ready Steady Cook. We are surrounded by food programmes morning, noon and night. And you can bloat out on food blogs too. So it would not be faminous to exclude a food acronym in the collection. If it gets your gastric juices flowing then go eat your fill – YOLO.

YOLO – young and old know this expression. The youth think it belongs to them – the old lay equal claim to it. Others think that they originated it. Well, hands off folks the expression dates back to 1700s and reference to similar expressions can be found in the 1800s and 1900s. There was WOLO (we only live once), IOLO (I Only Live Once) and then YOLO – in the 1930s movie. There may very well be something written in Sanskrit – one of the oldest known languages – it’s possible be that scholars haven’t discovered it yet. History buffs can enlighten us some more if they can be bothered.
An idea popped into mind - to offer the YOLO message from the old to the young. It could be the old of ancient India or the old of today or tomorrow. The viewer can make of it what they want. And for the record the old chap is not my nearly 90 year old friend and art fan!! YOLO ties in nicely with FoMo.
FoMo – Fear of Missing Out. It beggars belief officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013. We are told that FoMo is impacting on people’s psychological health and well-being – you couldn’t make this stuff up but there again anything  is infinitely possible. Soon everyone will need a ‘shrink’ – our poor National Health Service budget. The cure is simple – turn off the phone, delete all social media platforms, switch off the modem and go live in the wilderness and start talking to sheep!!
The art piece was inspired by the ephemeral nature of everything associated with FoMo. The ice-cubes of twitter, facebook and instagram were particularly fun to do. It all melts away doesn’t it?

AYCE – all you can eat. Come on folks. Are we not a food obsessed nation?

So surely it would be perilous not to have a food acronym in the collection.

If it gets your gastric juices flowing then go eat your fill – YOLO.

YOLO – young and old know this expression.
Here the old speak to the young and indeed to all of us.
What's your YOLO ambition?

FoMo – Fear of Missing Out.
The art piece was  inspired by the ephemeral nature of everything associated with FoMo.
The ice-cubes of twitter, facebook and instagram were particularly fun to do.
It all melts away doesn’t it?
And that’s all folks!!

16 thoughts on “Art of Text Speak”

  1. Ken

    Thank you Ben for your comments – it was a pleasure talking you and your fellow year 8 pupils yesterday. You were all a real credit to your school and left me feeling that St Joseph’s school in Wrexham is doing a sterling job with their pupils.

  2. Benjamin

    I visited the international eisteddfod today,7th july 2016, and i felt that this art really had a meaning behind it my favorite is CRBT. it shows a lonely girl crying her heart out, she’s CRYING BIG TEARS and cant stop. when you think about it we’ve all been like this.

  3. Ken

    Thanks for visiting the exhibition – if you want to read the entire blog here is the link. https://www.adrenalinebrush.com/blog
    LOL is popular with Cat Lovers and music lovers.

  4. Kathy

    Enjoyed visiting the Art of Text Speak exhibition, really clever and thought provoking pieces that raise interesting questions about modern life and society. My particular favourite is LOL.

  5. Ken

    You make some really good points. Others seeing the piece may have a similar view. I will shortly be expanding on the blog but I think I said that a week ago. How time flies..value this precious resource as it truly is limited my friend.

  6. John

    Really fabulous ideas and I like the deeper explanations on your website

  7. Aleks

    I’ve found YOLO particularily relevant to me and my recent reflections. So why do you think these two men are smiling in this way? Perhaps they have discovered something we are still yet to find out for ourselves? Maybe they know that the constant race to get somewhere, the constant stimulation doesn’t mean happiness? Maybe it’s just simply about being-ness? This is how this works speaks to me. What do you think?

  8. Ken

    Thanks for your kind words Niels – always nice to receive comments from Germany.

  9. Anonymous

    Love the business concept and website evolution Nellie. Your business is a flower that should bloom.

  10. Jon

    I felt the collection typifies some of the issues of contemporary life. I appreciated the many levels of the FOMO art piece in particular.

  11. Ken

    Hi Frances

    Many thanks for your comments. Glad you were able to explore the multi-layered meaning to the pieces.

    Ken

  12. Frances

    Very much enjoyed the Text Speak exhibition. It is interesting to discuss the works with other people, as there seem to be many ways to interpret them- there are so many layers to think about, beyond the images and acronyms themselves.
    Thought provoking and beautiful.

  13. Ken

    Thanks for your comments Aleks

  14. Ken

    Hi Jayashreee
    Thank you for visiting the exhibition. I’m really pleased that you like it.
    Ken

  15. Jayashree

    2 April, ….Just visited Nellie’s exhibition entitled ” art of text speak” yesterday. Modern usage of Acronyms or ‘text speak ‘ is explained to the viewer and each piece of work is very unique, expressing in minimalist imagery the thoughts behind each Acronym. Very unusual subject matter but beautifully executed paintings. We were very impressed by the thought processes behind each work. Well done Nellie!
    Jayashree x
    .

  16. Aleks

    I love the works and how minimalistic they are. If you see it and just walk past, it means you just don’t get it. Very clever and witty 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.