Phonic Bloom

Speech sounds in space

Vision

• Create a data sculpture representing speech sounds, community, and language diversity
• Encourage curiosity and wonder in library patrons
• De-center English, emphasizing the universal aspects of language

Doers

Janet Cowal partnered with Superfab to design, make, and install Phonic Bloom for the Woodland Community Library.

Process

In 2024, Superfab consulted linguist Janet Cowal to design a sculpture to represent the connections between speech, sound, and local community. The concept was a meadow, inverted and hung from the ceiling, with flowers representing the speech sounds of all spoken languages across the world, highlighting local languages in colors inspired by regional flora.

Old book pages were dyed and used to create the flowers:

• Orange to represent the sounds of Spanish
• Blue to represent the sounds of local indigenous language Cowlitz Salish
• Purple to represent the sounds of English
• Undyed blooms to represent other possible sounds found in other languages

These were laid out on a grid of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), showing the relationship of how we form sounds in language. An app accompanies the design, inviting patrons to explore how speech sounds are made and the wide range of phonetic possibilities.

Learn more and try out the interactive chart by clicking below!