Project VerboFly

The beginnings of another project…

VerboFly, the beginning of an idea

Inspired by my recent brush with grafitti, the VerboFlys are meant to be visually appealing, decorative urban art that contain meaning for those that take the time to question what they are looking at. Understanding as reward for close observation and critical thinking. The idea is that someone would come across a VerboFly on a wall somewhere, notice that it’s a pretty butterfly then, either, continue on her way or pause and begin a mental process of observation. Should that person succeed in seeing a message, then, perhaps, she’ll also take the time to ask herself what that message means…

Spoken Portuguese sentence structure functions much differently than English. You can arrange the individual parts in many different ways and still make sense and, often, much fewer words are needed. Question words are also full of the letters q, e, and u. These characteristics make it a perfect tool for hiding messages in decorative details.

VerboFly, Study 2

Basically, the body of the butterfly holds the verb, and the question words are weaved into the wings. By reading from left to center or center to right, simple but powerful questions are formed. For example, the second study reads as follows:

Quanto vive? (How much do you live?)
Vive quando? (When will you live?)
Pra quem vive? (Who do you live for?)
Por que vive? (Why live?)
Vive pra que? (Live for what?)
Vive como? (Live how?)

Stay tuned for more VerboFly watching…