The Story Behind
the Work

From lived experience to interactive art

What does it take to be understood in a language that is not your own?Mis/Understanding grew out of my everyday experience of navigating communication in English as an Iranian artist and non-native speaker. I became increasingly aware of how much effort could exist beneath an ordinary conversation: searching for words, interpreting unfamiliar expressions, adjusting my responses, and trying to understand not only what was said but what was meant.

These moments were not always visible to the people around me. A conversation might appear simple, while internally it involved constant translation, uncertainty, and self-monitoring. I began wondering how this invisible experience could be communicated to someone who had never encountered it in the same way.

Instead of representing language barriers through explanation alone, I wanted to create situations in which people would have to work with incomplete information, uncertain meaning, and unfamiliar forms of interaction.

My early experiments involved spoken language, projected typography, and programmed changes to text. I explored how letters could be altered, words could disappear, and speech could become something visually unstable. As the work developed, I began using movement and spatial interaction to make the process of accessing meaning more physical.

These experiments evolved into three interconnected installations, each approaching a different aspect of communication. Together, they reflect my interest in how people continue to interpret, adjust, and reach toward one another even when language does not function as expected.

Mis/Understanding does not attempt to reproduce every experience of second-language communication or offer a solution to miscommunication. Instead, it creates opportunities to notice the effort, uncertainty, and persistence that often remain unseen.