PROJECT DESCRIPTION

ON TRANSLATION - THE INTERNET PROJECT
is part of the series
ON TRANSLATION, which was started in 1994.

THE INTERNET PROJECT addresses issues of interpretation, transformation, and changes of meaning through the process of translation.

The project was originally conceived in January 1996 as follows:

ON TRANSLATION
The trans/circle/net project. (tentative title)

conceptual bases:

1. a children's game: "telephone", "Stille Post", "Chinese whispers", "téléphone arabe", "il telefono senza fili", "el teléfono descompuesto", "el teléfono", "el joc dels disbarats"...
2. the translation process
3. the internet: the system and the network

An English sentence is sent to a Japanese station to be translated into Japanese, and then to Germany for translation from Japanese to German. After that, it is forwarded to Pakistan to be translated again. The process continues in this manner through a total of twenty different sites until the circle is closed with a translation from Russian back into English. From the last station, the process begins again and goes on indefinitely.

A sentence like: "Communication systems provide the possibility of developing a better understanding between people: in which language?" will go through a chain of translators, who may or may not be using translation devices.

The project proposes that there be a constant flow of changing language in translation. The main focus of the project lies on translation, interpretation, and cultural differences.

Through the working process which started in March 1997, the project evolved to its present form.