Emily Staples

Baragouin Language

As part of an OCAD U project, the piece Baragouin explores the different mediums that can communicate language. Baragouin means gibberish, language that has no meaning or understanding. The basics of the definition resulted in the utilization of the sounds language produces resulted in the larger printed poster. The sound waves are hidden behind uniform obstructing lines, making the viewer investigate the surface level of the piece. The additional explorations are focused on the 2D realm. Development of abstract letterforms representing the phrase ‘baragouin is not a language’ enforces the idea present within the term. The iterations use different materials and digital techniques to explore how the term can be layered and represented. While these iterations provided an interesting interpretation of the word, it was still conceptual. This process resulted in the designs being translated onto acrylic sheets held up by a stand. Moving towards other aspects, tangrams allowed viewers to have their own experience of developing a language in an abstract way. Utilizing the tangram shapes allow for multiple compositions to be created and iterated. This makes the process unique to everyone who interacts with the pieces.The final aspects of this piece push the viewer into learning to understand the gibberish. The viewers are exposed to educational material that mimics those currently used. The worksheet itself is what enforces the idea of learning to the viewer. Having a clean, clear look makes the language seem official, like there is something for them to learn. To achieve the worksheet outcomes, the flashcards and video teach the viewer the fake language. The flashcards combine simple illustrations and letterforms allowing the puzzle to be solved whereas the video gives sound to the language. Within the video, AI is used to generate a realistic teacher presenting the language as well as all the audio heard.

“Exploring the word Baragouin opened the doors to the idea of communication and understanding across languages. ”