Mia Cinelli: This Being Said

Artist and designer Mia Cinelli exhibits a series of new punctuation marks, letterforms, and symbols informed by facial expressions, gestures, and nonverbal communication in her exhibition This Being Said.

Using design as a medium for inquiry, Cinelli’s typographic series of large digital and small letterpress prints invite discussion about how our current language looks, works, and how our communication might evolve. Featuring both proposed glyphs and examples of their context of use, these works engage in a kind of ‘world building’ to illustrate a possible future. Specializing in the design of images and experiences, her installation creates a colourful, energetic environment wherein the rules of punctuation are playfully expanded upon.

Much like how music relies on specific symbols to designate key, volume, pacing, and pauses, Cinelli believes that her proposed punctuation would allow us to articulate meaning through gesture and expression. An ‘affecticon’ could be used to signify closeness, while an ‘anticipation point’ could be used at the end of a sentence to denote the writer’s excitement.  In lieu of emojis, these new forms are proposed to supplement and enhance written language and attempt to make the rich complexities of verbal and nonverbal conversation visible.

This Being Said illustrates the power of typography while encouraging viewers to consider their daily forms of communication. In an age of increasingly digital information, how we communicate with each other, Cinelli feels, is paramount.

Mia Cinelli is a multidisciplinary artist and designer whose practice encompasses and eclectic span of investigations including conceptual products, sculptures, installations, garments, and graphics. She earned her MFA at the University of Michigan and is an Assistant Professor of Art Studio & Digital Design at the University of Kentucky in the USA.

Artist Talk and Reception: Sunday, February 16, 2 – 4 p.m.