about

Studying words not through meaning but through chemistry attracts me. I can sit with a word for hours, gauging the energy in one of its bonds, thinking about its reaction to certain solutions, or drawing its chemical structure. By the time I’ve undergone these calculations and considerations, I feel like I’ve developed a thorough understanding of the word itself without looking at its definition or etymology.

What makes up a word isn’t just what the dictionary tells us. Those definitions are static–they aren’t impacted by space and time. Yet our use of language casts it as a dynamic structure. The place, the duration, the people involved: all of these things play into the word and change its meaning.

Transelemental chooses chemistry as a different way of interpreting words. It’s meant to bring qualities of language to light that are often overlooked. In choosing chemistry, I have undergone a dynamic exploration of language, as language should be explored.