TO DECODE

This interactive installation aimed to transform the act of bilingualism into a game of codes, clues, and pattern recognition. Centered around puzzles and hidden messages, the work invited participants to engage with the mechanics of language through play. Drawing from Ladan’s and Alice’s fluency in English, Korean, and Persian, the artists design challenges that reflect the mental agility required to move between linguistic systems.

Letters become symbols, sounds become strategies, and translation becomes a puzzle to be solved. Through games and digital projections, the installation revealed how bilingual minds continually decode their environments—shifting between scripts, meanings, and cultural contexts. In this space, language is not only a tool for communication but also a structure for play, exploration, and discovery.

Collaboration with Alice J Lee
To Decode: Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Vinyl, clear acrylic, projection / 2019
Photos by Alice J Lee and Ladan Bahmani