The performance/work “Vocabolario: Construction Grammar Geode 2” uses, through the papier-mâché technique, two old dictionaries — Nuovo Zingarelli Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana from 1990; Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary from 2000. The work metaphorically represents words as material to “construct” our language. The work recalls the theory of “Construction Grammar” which is part of the contemporary movement of Cognitive Linguistics.

At the level of “form” the artists made papier-mâché casts of stones of various sizes, objects built to reflect “le parole sono pietre - words are stones”, a quote from the book by Carlo Levi. Clearly this refers to how words can hurt and remain alive in the psyche, conditioning a person over time. On the other hand, in English there is the nursery rhyme “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Instead, this rhyme is used as a defense against insults and verbal bullying, intended to increase resilience, avoid physical retaliation and/or remain calm and indifferent. The choice of the papier-mâché “geode” reflects a volcanic rock that normally forms crystals in the center, which in this case are represented by words. With this work the artists would like to express a concept of nonviolence*, wisdom, and construction.

The 15-minute performance was originally performed in Italy, for ADDArt Gallery at Palazzo Due Mondi, during the Festival of the Two Worlds. The action refers to our bilingual world, the use of dictionaries, and the power that words can have. It takes place in Italian and English, with randomly chosen words that are read from inside the geodes in both languages.

The action: the two artists stand facing each other at the sides of the table and read 5 words per geode. The 14 geodes are modeled on 14 stones, arranged in 4 rows; 7 stones and 7 geodes per language. When each shape is turned and read, it is then balanced on a transparent glass jar, in opposition to the original stone from which it was modeled. Every time one of the two artists finishes reading 5 words, they recite their nursery rhyme: “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” or “le parole sono pietre”. The performance ends when the 14 shapes have been read and balanced. Then the artists return to the head of the table placing their hands on the 2 leading stones of the two languages in front of them, and they repeat the rhymes simultaneously.

SANDFORD&GOSTI (Jodi Sandford, San Josè, California USA, / Valter Gosti, Perugia, Italia) decided to present themselves under one signature from the year 2000.

* a term used by the philosopher Aldo Capitini.