An antilipo and visual poem in two parts, HER | HIM consists of two growing lists of every English word I know containing each letter of the words ‘her’ or ‘him’.
Based on the idea that language is a parasitic or alien life form that uses us to propagate itself, as well as on the feedback loop between language and the self as territories of belonging and exile, the lists are an example of the curious (im)possibility of translation and the fragmented self that arises from it. The more languages one understands, the more elusive the reflection of the self in them becomes.
I grew up speaking Hungarian and learned other languages after moving to the Netherlands at a young age. One of the things that struck me was the use of 'she' and 'he' in different languages. These pronouns do not exist in Hungarian, only a gender neutral third-person singular pronoun.
These lists are a way to reflect on the self through words that belong to me, as well as questioning the dynamic and limits of belonging to words. While ‘her’ and ‘him’ hide in these words in English, they would be lost in the translation into any other language.
The full set of prints can be read as poems, diptychs or images. Pages can be removed from the books and individually framed, hung, used.
Available at Boekie Woekie, Amsterdam ︎ PrintRoom, Rotterdam ︎ Yvon Lambert, Paris ︎ online at Dark Editions