Ruth Thomas

pol

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T H E P A T T E R N O F L A N G U A G E ( 1 / 3 )

The 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 8689 pixels

This work shows the 30 articles of the UDHR. Each letter and punctuation mark is replaced by a colour; the spaces are kept in neutral silver-grey. Moreover, the silver-grey yarn forms the basic structure of the whole work.

The resulting work represents the fundamental rights of every human being, but also an abstract colour pattern: the pattern of the English language, which would be largely the same for any other source text, apart from the order of the colours.

The loose ends of wool on the back are a random by-product of the crochet technique used. However, due to their idiosyncratic colour and formal dynamics, they represent an equivalent counterpart to the organised front.

(Crocheted natural and acrylic wool, 105 x 97 cm, 2018)

T H E P A T T E R N O F L A N G U A G E ( 2 / 3 )

The 1st article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 23 languages

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

The 1st article of the UDHR is shown here in the 23 languages of the world with more than 50 million native speakers. Arranged by number of native speakers in descending order, these are:

Chinese, Spanish, English, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Lahnda, Javanese, Turkish, Korean, French, German, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, Vietnamese, Tamil, Italian, Persian, Malay.

(It must be noted that language statistics vary from country to country and that some of the information is based on estimates. Languages that do not use the Latin alphabet have been transcribed into English.)

Again, spaces, letters and punctuation correspond to one colour each. The different colourations of the 23 patterns make it possible to recognise the differences between the languages visually, rather than in the usual aural way.

(Crocheted natural and acrylic wool, 23 works from 12 x 14 cm to 21 x 14 cm, 2019)

T H E P A T T E R N O F L A N G U A G E ( 3 / 3 )

Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 91 colours

This piece is a further development of the previous two works. The choice to spend time crocheting article 23, which states the right to work, symbolises the privilege of freely chosen work in safe conditions.

Here, each letter and punctuation mark is shown in neutral silver-grey, whereas each space is represented by a colour randomly chosen from a collection of 91 different coloured yarns.

This work is characterised by the contrasts between clearly defined concept and randomly chosen colours, between neutral grey and vivid colours, and between organised surface and unorganised tangle of threads.

(Crocheted natural and acrylic wool, 23 x 23 cm, 2020)