Finial

Finial Project

I read the New York Times for nine months, extracted esoteric words from the text and passed out those words and their meanings to people walking past the New York City Main Library on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street. The gold seal decorating each vocabulary card matched the gold finial that I positioned on the sidewalk next to me. I constructed my finial after researching the crowning ornaments that Asante linguists carry in their public ceremonies. I temporarily acted as a linguist, disseminating obscure words to enrich and enliven the public space.