Σenu

+ (³n)cipher           (³n)cipher is a record of visual experiments I conducted in early 2023 in study of the intrinsic experience of human language.
          The word encipher came to me as a curious revelation during the process of experimentation. Establishing mathematical rules, altering the form of language, and documenting the resulting creations. This repetitive cycle reminded me of encryption. It is the act of using an alternate logic system to alienate and reconstruct an existing one, forming a new structure altogether.
          The journey as an encrypter inspecting language with a fresh eye is particularly fascinating. I want to preserve these fragments as they are. Therefore, the series presented here is not something finished. It is a collection of unpolished drafts, scattered puzzle pieces, and reveries of an explorer. It is merely a process. Not an answer.
Ch, Sep 2023

- (³n)cipher I:  y=f(x)      
          The Function defines the correspondence between variables. In function computation, when the independent variable x is assigned a value, the dependent variable y is determined at the same time. However, the brain's processing ensures they are not perceived in the exact same instant; they are captured one after the other. This computational process gives rise to a temporal fissure, a mere step between two worlds.
          This experiment was meant to simulate the operation of language through the mechanics of function computation. I've applied a modified Caesar cypher to encrypt the English alphabet, utilizing a sequential substitution encryption method. The encryption rule shifts each consonant forward by one position in the alphabet, while the order of vowels remains unchanged. I repurposed a set of alphabet stamps into a device for “automatically” generating this  new language and produced the Enciphered letter A. Once encrypted by the function, the letter remains readable, yet it necessitates a calculation to be decoded, a process that amplifies the perceptual delay brought about by the operation of language.
          The death of a mug is instantaneous in reality; in the medium of language, however, it is slow, blurred, and lagging.

- (³n)cipher II:  x+y=C           A system of linear equations is considered underdetermined if the number of equations is less than that of variables. The system lacks enough constraints to determine a unique solution. Instead, it results in multiple valid answers and boundless possibilities. The encryption method for the Enciphered letter N is based on the materiality of writing. By calculating the graphic area of 56 letters and punctuation marks of Futura at 60 pt., I transformed English words into circles of equivalent area.
          The very mechanism of language aims to capture and materialize elusive thoughts. Yet, it doesn't completely dispel uncertainty; instead, it merely specifies a range of possibilities within apparent limits. The encryption of this letter is deliberate and precise. However, the decryption process resembles solving an underdetermined system, where uniqueness turns into multiple solutions. Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that we are tortured by inexpressibility in language as if we go through failed validations over and over.

- (³n)cipher III: X(t)=X(t-1)*P            Some models in mathematics can describe the irreversibility of state changes. For example, the Markov chain, in which the current state of things depends only on the previous state, unrelated to its history and without retrospect.
           Inspired by this type of irreversible state change, I attempted to alter the dimension, shape, combination, and arrangement of letters in a two-dimensional plane, and eventually project them back onto the two-dimensional plane V from three-dimensional space, forming an encrypted text that is both unreplicable and indecipherable.
           The limits of language are the limits of the world. These bizarre texts, returning from a journey through higher dimensions, seem like a boundary line. Beyond this boundary, the vast computations and possibilities may only be a moment of enlightenment, and language no longer needs to exist within a flat medium.