The Field Scribbles Lexicon (working title) is a place to record thoughts or expressions about and in relation to words we use, or might use, in our contemporary world. Some who know me and my work might assume the entries would all be about technology. They aren’t and never would have been.
However, technology is likely to be referenced often, by me at any rate. But that includes the oldest forms as well as the newest — writing, for instance and large language models (LLMs) — our own and other bodies, our movements, our enmeshments, the reverberations that form us. All of these together amount to the substrate of which we are a/part, and they are what the project yearns to investigate, unpick, re-enmesh. I have words like ‘grief’, ‘neighbour’, ‘dialogue’, and ‘resentment’ in my drafts or already posted, as well as words more commonly associated with LLMs and/or the internet, such as ‘hallucination’ and ‘social (media)’. The project is not a ‘how we speak about technology’ venture; rather, it investigates the way we communicate about and to each other in a world in which machines have access to natural language processing. Some entries are text only, some are images only, and some a combination. Audio would be welcome.
Other voices
As with my previous project, Sense & Reason, the Lexicon is open to others. While in development, a continuous (for the moment) open call means that anyone who wishes to can submit a contribution. Kim Shaw, for example, wrote about the word Drift. I aim to include as many voices as possible, however, there are some pre-conditions which can be read about below and on the submission form.
Why invite others at all?
I’m interested in the threat to the hyper-individual that modern technology poses – perceived or otherwise – and how, or if, the idiosyncratic, cross-culturally speaking, Western commitment to the isolated soul (not to mention how it has been elevated above all else, aside from the God we made in our image) will survive tech’s unavoidable presence. I cannot see how it will, given how smart our technology has become, never mind that across sciences, the concepts of ‘intelligence’ and ‘networks’ are also being redefined and argued about, as we open our minds to the existence of different perceptions. But human delusions of grandeur are, if nothing else, persistent. Stark contradictions between the dissolution of objects that contemporary technologies are built upon and a dominant economic model in the West that fetishises and perpetuates hyper-individualism also inform the inquiry.
Anyone may submit to contribute, as described below. I would urge those interested to read or view a couple of posts before writing themselves either in or out of the project. It may be far broader than you assume – my work deliberately resists narrowing, one-directional focus, or easy answers and definitive proclamations. Instead, I leap into complexity and urge others to do the same without worrying about producing a tidy package.
I might eventually, if and when there is sufficient material, print a selection.
I update this page from time to time to clarify and include answers to questions that potential contributors have sent me.
See entries already posted here.
Would you like to add to this lexicon?
Perhaps you have a word that doesn’t exist in the world at all yet, or perhaps an esoteric term not yet in common use – one that might help people speak our strange new world into being, or describe it more accurately, with greater generosity, kindness, or humour than usually informs so many conversations today. Perhaps you want to query how a common word is currently employed; dialogue, funding, intelligence, or image are possible. Responses to existing entries are welcome too.
All lexicon entries are rendered bold wherever they appear across this website. Bold words also link back to the lexicon post. So if a post written in 2017 contains the word Surface (for example), it will pick up the word and entry. This may inform your choice of word.
Please submit proposed entries or responses here or email me at info@sarahjanefield.co.uk if you prefer. (The form includes permission tick boxes which is helpful if I decide later to turn this project into a zine.)
Please adhere to the spirit of the project. It is not intended to be a recreation of the binary rancour commonly found on social media.
References and citations are welcome but not required. What matters most is generosity, honesty, and a genuine commitment to expanding how we think and speak about the contemporary world.
Entries are limited to 1000 words on the form. If you require more than that, please email your entry to info@sarahjanefield.co.uk. If you wish to add an image, or even supply nothing more than a pictorial entry, that needs to be emailed too, as the form does not accept uploads.
The following posts describe some of the rationale and aims of this lexicon. Anyone wishing to contribute may find them helpful.
- Notes: Nomenclature for Now March 28, 2026
- Notes: Nomenclature for Now (Part II) April 13, 2026