Words of the Future

With exponential change upon us, it seems we will have to learn a new language. We are adding new words and new concepts to our world faster than the language can keep up with them.

Words of the Future is a public street-art project that aims to reduce fear and increase knowledge about the concepts shaping the next era by cementing those words directly into the streets of the cities we are already walking through.

Each piece names a concept (often technical, often unfamiliar, sometimes invented) and pairs it with a plain-language definition stenciled in a place where you would otherwise be scrolling past it on your phone. The bet is that a word you encounter in physical space sticks differently than a word you skim on a screen.

Words have been planted in Sedona, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, and Jackson Hole. The series is ongoing, and new words keep arriving because the future keeps arriving.

“A vocabulary for what does not yet have a name.”