The limits of my language mean the limits to my world  (Ludwig Wittgenstein)

One year long performance documented by pictures.
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​For an entire year at every family gathering like for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc. I wrote over the cake we would use to eat to celebrate a word inspired by George Orwell's novel 1984. In that book he describes the creation of a new fictional language, named Newspeak, with the aim of influencing people, their thoughts, and subsequently their lives. This new impoverished language would be promoted by the state in order to control people by removing any words or expressions considered dangerous. During the performance the act of eating together acquires a symbolic meaning. It becomes a silent agreement on what one cannot say anymore and has to keep forcefully for themselves. Through the performance a natural process is reversed from out to in, words are swallowed instead of coming out of the mouth. This project suggests a reflection on family rituals, trust, censorship, and control both in a public and private settings.