All negative translations can be viewed as a vector space, where the zero point of that space is the word or phrase we want to translate. In other words, the way we translate a certain word into a negative depends on which direction we want to go and which aspect of its meaning we want to negate. In this work, October is negated into overtime based on the vector of time that is delimited – to the month or to paid/unpaid work. Similarly, the salon is negated on the basis of the gathering vector, so its negative becomes – boycott. Boycott as a sign of rejection and withdrawal from commercial or social relations in a communal or individual act, is opposed to a salon whose purpose is gathering for entertainment, knowledge exchange and/or socio-commercial benefit.

Negative poetry is part of the ongoing, interdisciplinary research into cosmogony (that is, the theory of creation). Conceived as a linguistic experiment and algorithm for machines and humans, the project explores the possibility of approaching zero (the point of origin) through the mathematical operation of cancellation and the concept of negation in natural language. Project collaboration and software development: Miloš Grujić. Supported by the Oxford English Dictionary via researchers access.

© Cultural Centrе of Belgrade, October Salon and the Artist Collection
Purchase Contract: III-30-205/23.10.2023.
Inventory no: 189
Photo: Nemanja Knežević, the installation view of the 59^th October Salon, still from the video work