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ABSTRACT
This paper investigates a metrolingual language object and creative place-making in Dumbo, Brooklyn within the era of late capitalism. It is an analysis of how two simple letters ‘O’ and ‘Y’, when put together create two short words ‘OY’ and ‘YO’ yet carry exponential meaning about metrolingual language ideologies, language users and powerful social agents. An example of heteroglossic play and linguistic creativity, Deborah Kass’s multilingual artwork is at the crossroads of social, cultural, political and linguistic boundaries of diverse communities in urban space. This paper focuses on how the work of one local Brooklyn-based artist was fabricated and re-contextualized for public space, use and consumption, but paid for by a private, influential individual gentrifier and his local real estate development company. In short, it examines a local narrative about key players within urban development schemes driving consumer cultures through unique selling propositions, and thereby laying the foundations for language to emerge and become both a cultural and material artifact reflecting global marketing practices and the semiotic landscaping of urban hubs.
Acknowledgments
A special thanks to Deborah Kass for taking the time to talk to me about her artwork. I would like to thank both Mairéad Moriaty and Johan Järlehed for their superb editorial guidance and patience. And finally, thank you to thank Adam Jaworski, Anne Schluter, Rafael Lomeu Gomes, Robert Blackwood, Kristin Vold Lexander, Alastair Pennycook and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Any errors and shortcomings are my own.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs along with Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx and Manhattan that make up the metropolitan area known as New York City. At present, Brooklyn is the most populous borough with a resident population of approximately 2.6 million people, compelling Trinch and Snajdr (Citation2017) to refer to the borough as a ‘city’. In fact, if Brooklyn were a city, it would rank as the fourth largest in the US following New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. See Gonçalves, Citation2018 for a discussion of Bushwick, another Brooklyn neighbourhood well known for its street art.
5. Kelly-Holmes talks about the creation of a neologism as a product or even brand name, i.e. ipod (Citation2010, p. 478).
7. An ‘artistic dividend’ is considered to be the added value to both regional and local economies through means of artistic work (Markusen & Schrock Citation2006, p. 1661).
8. See Pennycook (Citation2016) for a discussion of these terms.
9. Personal communication with A. Pennycook (March 2017).
10. This project is being conducted together with Beatrix Busse from Heidelberg University, Germany.
12. The Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive is a 9.5 mile highway that runs along the east side of New York City.
13. I would like to thank audience members at the Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS) at the University of Bern, Switzerland for a great discussion on the meanings and uses of OY.
15. The New York City Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise Tour offers several different packages for visitors to see famous landmarks, which include, for example, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center, and United Nations, Columbia University and Yankee Stadium to name a few.
16. An online search of the OY/YO sculpture also renders several pictures of individuals physically engaging with the piece. (https://deborahkass.com).
18. Cf. Curran’s (Citation2007) study on gentrification and industrial displacement in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.