#Words

Formed by adding a pound sign in front of a word or phrase in social media, hashtags are searchable pieces of metadata. They provide an organization form for users while transforming language into a material force. “With what words do we think, write, speak, and come together today? In what terms do we express the present circumstances?” Formulated from a set of questions raised by the artist Deniz Gül, #Words is a non-hierarchical database of 2753 words continuously scanned in more than 75 thousand news sites and blog pages, and sorted according to their most recent publication dates. Once clicked, users are directed to the latest article, which the selected word appears on. The pile of words, updated and re-organized every three minutes, indicates the pace of change in the words’ agenda and context.

#Words will be running online throughout Deniz Gül’s Scratch and Surface exhibition at SALT Galata.

The web design and development of this project has been supported by Kraftend.