Repetition Is the Death of Meaning explores the psychological phenomenon known as semantic satiation, which states repetition causes a word or phrase to temporarily lose meaning. Extended inspection or analysis (staring at the word or phrase for a long time) in place of repetition also produces the same effect. Upon a black screen flashing occasionally with light leaks and film noise, two rectangular frames appear. The right displays a preview window cycling through screenshots of the word “meaning” repeated eight hundred and twenty five times. To the left, a static image of said word remains throughout the entire 4:38 duration. Juxtaposition between visual movement (right) with perceived stagnation (left) produces a cognitive discrepancy which dismantles attempts at formulating meaning between the two frames. While more of an easter egg, the number of repetitions correlate with a human’s average attention span; 8.25 seconds.
**
NAM HOANG TRAN is a multidisciplinary artist based in Orlando, FL. His work appears or is forthcoming in Posit, The Brooklyn Review, ANMLY, New Delta Review, Always Crashing, Diode, and elsewhere. Find him online @ www.namhtran.com.
