Slippage

My last post contained an image that encourages something called “slippage.” Slippage is the fissure between mind and mark in which all misunderstandings are spawned. We can’t read each other’s minds so we create forms of communication (media, languages) to convey our own thoughts to each other. But no form of communication is perfect and there will always be something lost when dedicating a thought to a medium. This is the realm of slippage. The only language I can think of that may be completely free of slippage is the binary code of computers, and I’d like to rule out any non-human communicators. Most graphic designers want to discourage slippage, as their goal is most often to deliver a particular message that is easy to understand visually. This is often done by using simplified figures, or the ties between color and emotion, or images commonly recognized by people within a culture, etc. But being free from the constraints of a real job, I can explore the potential of slippage just for intellectual amusement. I’d be interested to know what people get out of something that doesn’t try to say anything at all.