Homographs (English) is the first volume of Uses and Names (UN), a visual dictionaries series. Words are selected that have at least two different referents in the world and are laid out on a spread to emphasise the narrowness of language with respect to the width of the world. So, a cataract is at once an eye disease and a waterfall. A bat is an animal and the tool used in baseball. Basket is a woven item and a sport. Bark is the verse of dogs and the outermost layer of tree trunks.
Before being bound in a book, different combinations of photographs were used to teach children with autism and migrants English as a foreign language by relying on images rather than text. Visual pairings were selected based on a combination of educational incisiveness and irony facilitating the process of learning. Photographs can be used as prompts for conversations during language classes, and as a memory game for language development.
Publishing, Research and Design: Shibboleth Rotary printing: Nava Press, Milan. 2025, English, hardcover, edition of 500, A6, 448 pages, thread-sewn Dutch binding, blue headband, red and blue cotton ribbon bookmarks, marbled endpapers. Cover: Manifattura del Seveso Setalux 1738 with black debossing on cover and back. Paper: Holmen Book Cream 80gr. ISBN 978-88-947591-5-0
Homographs was made possible with support from un/fund, a funding platform by un/produced, Amsterdam/Paris. Special thanks to Rosie Donoghue and Hana Olver for their encouragement.
Watch Grégoire Perrier’s artist’s film about Homographs here.
