Rad Hourani's "ALPHABET" series emerges from personal experiences with language and the social exclusion encountered during upbringing. Noticing a lack of sensory stimulation in neurotypical pedagogy and public spaces, Rad deconstructs textuality and the alphabet to illuminate a discriminatory educational heritage impacting millions. This body of work aims to dismantle social hierarchies and inequalities by creating adaptable learning tools for those who are differently wired.

Embracing a diverse approach to semiotics and activating our sensory systems makes interpreting signs more engaging and accessible. Rad reconfigures the relationship between content and container, reflecting how we experience feelings and sensations through color, texture, pattern, shape, and contrast. Working with clay for the first time, Rad creates figurative, anthropomorphic letters echoing ancient writing materials, reflecting a time before visual language.

These sculptures, intentionally overpainted, cracked, turned upside-down, or otherwise imperfect, highlight the rules and norms of writing and the inevitability of miscommunication. Combining hand- and machine-made works, the series explores the evolution of language through time and the meanings it carries: old versus new, raw versus polished, organic versus synthetic, ecological versus unsustainable.

Rad's work underscores the role of art as a means of communication and expression, addressing inequality and advocating for a renewed, inclusive approach to language. Reflecting on past, present, and future alphabets—from early clay tablets and pictograms to spelling reforms and the evolution of inclusive writing—Rad explores how language can be optimized and renewed to benefit the neurodiverse and everyone. Embodied communication supports social struggles, helping people worldwide who are affected by various learning disorders and find themselves isolated in digital spaces. Whether through body language, linguistic standards, emojis, or other forms, our means of connection remain vital and, most significantly, unwritten.

© RAD HOURANI

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