Sofia Syjuco -Looking Outwards – 06

A Text of Random Meaning
Rami Hammour
Spring 2015
link

A Text of Random Meaning is an art piece by Rami Hammour that is a mapping of a random number generator. I think it’s really interesting because it looks like lines of text, and calls to mind text art to the viewer, who is then intrigued and will want to look deeper – but it is really just randomly generated. But because the viewer thinks it is text, and will likely continue believing it is if they are kept at a far enough distance, the work is given meaning. Because it “is text” the “words” contained therein must have some sort of meaning and make a statement. But because it is just random, there is no meaning or statement – which just points out the natural human reaction to words and to text art. I think that’s really admirable and interesting, because it forces us to introspect about our expectations of art and of text.