In David Abram’s book ‘The Spell of the Sensuous’ he shares a theory as to how the evolution from symbolic to phonetic language was instrumental in disassociating humans from their embodied sensuous connection to each other and the earth.

I have read also that the Garden of Eden myth represents this same transition in that the birth of language, which sliced up reality into separate conceptual bits, was the bite of the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The recent frequent use of emoji’s to express oneself is looked down upon by many as a descent from the nobility of language. However, I am enjoying using them as an exploration in the merits of their subjectivity and what they evoke.

Each emoji here represents a functional idea about my identity, which I do daily work with to inculcate as habitual thought. I find that contemplating the ideas via the symbol gives me access to more diverse interpretation and richer meaning, lending power to the installation and efficacy to their function.

What do you think of the increasing use of emojis? How are you using them?