De/constructed Meanings showcases an installation developed by Hala Amer, Saga Elkabbash, Levi Hammett, and Giovanni Innella at the research and development studio, xLab, as part of VCUarts Qatar.
This methodology focuses on the indefinite interpretations embedded within the examination of speech and writing that formulate language and meaning. Existing discourses relating to particular cultures and geographies play a central part in our perceptions of the truth. Dominant power structures, often manifested through binary oppositions, perpetuate hierarchical understandings of systems, influencing what is commonly perceived as ‘true’ or ‘false’.
Within the oppositional structures of 'either/or', the text reveals an alternative reading that reconstructs preconceived notions of meaning. With reference to the Derridean method, the installation acts as a machine materialising text as a mode of representation dependent on ideological influences. Using sand as a canvas to convey critical thought centred around the historical contexts of the past, present and future, the machine invites the viewer to observe their fixed and fluid nature.
This exhibition unveils the evolution of linguistic systems, challenging inherited interpretations of oppositional notions as they are often understood.
