In the 1960s, linguist Noam Chomsky proposed the revolutionary idea of “universal grammar”. Chomsky posited that the acquisition of language by human babies was so instinctual, so automatic and so effective that it must somehow point to the existence of a biological propensity: a “language organ”.

But 50 years on, this organ remains increasingly elusive. Leading us to ask - if language is unlearnable without a language organ, and that organ does not exist, is language unlearnable? Does language, therefore, also not exist? Further, if humans - as is often said - are defined by their ability to use language, and language does not exist, then how can we say humans exist?

ROGUE SYNTAX: PRIMER is an experimental audio series, by artists Nathan Gray, Makiko Yamamoto and Danni Zuvela, in conversation with linguist Dr Rikke Bundgaard-Nielson, and others.

Originally conceived as a performance program exploring the voice in contemporary art, 2020 reshaped ROGUE SYNTAX into a long-form collaborative artistic research project exploring the relationship between sonic thinking and experimental linguistics.

ROGUE SYNTAX is an investigation by artists into questions of mind, language and perception. From the vantage point of the voice and its vanguard position in contemporary art comes a cascade of observations and queries, starting with:

• Language is different to other forms of sound. WHY?

From this question comes many more, including:

• Why can you hear all the harmonies and instruments in a band, but can only understand a single speaking voice at a time?
• Why don’t animals (or plants, or rocks) speak?
• Why are languages disappearing, and what is being done to protect them?
• Why do we want to talk to aliens - and what should we say to them?

ROGUE SYNTAX: PRIMER may not answer these questions, but will offer a grounding, a trellis, an undercoat, a floor-plan (or grundrisse as Marx would say) - a basis for psycholinguistics within the prism of contemporary art.

Listen through our journal, or subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or RSS.

ROGUE SYNTAX: PRIMER is the product of several years of artistic research by Nathan Gray into speech perception, cognition and the spoken word in contemporary art and experimental music; continues Makiko Yamamoto’s artistic research into the social functions of the voice; is the first major work by former Liquid Architecture Artistic Co-Director Danni Zuvela in her new role as LA Research Curator.

www.roguesyntax.com