For the second intervention of their three-month residency as part of MOCA’s Engagement Party program, Slanguage will present Dislexicon: A Word Performance. The term “Dislexicon” combines “dyslexia,” a learning disorder marked by an impaired capacity to interpret spatial relationships, often resulting in severe reading disabilities, with “lexicon,” an inventory of meaningful units in a language. True to its name, Slanguage, a portmanteau itself, will explore the idea of a visual lexicon and its poetics in relationship to text, spoken-word performances, music, and video, turning away from written word in favor of spoken (s)language. Through humor, poetry, text, video, and music, Dislexicon: A Word Performance will examine the many facets of growing up in Los Angeles, metaphorically traversing the urban landscape to mine both its comedic and tragic elements. The performance will feature poetic works by Slanguage members Karla Diaz and Raul “Spew” Vasquez.
