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A few Lexicon style guide points

• Use single speech marks except when included inside speech, at which point use double
• Italics for titles
• Use Harvard / Cite Them Right if referencing (whether to employ academic conventions such as referencing is up to you)
• The project prefers implication as opposed to declaration
• Try to avoid ‘AI’ as a catch-all where a more precise term will do, though contributors may, of course, use it
• Gallery-speak and didactic over-explanation should, ideally, be avoided (unless there is a reason for it, for example, while making a satirical point)

FAQs

1. Are you asking for a question, a pithy paragraph, an essay?
   
   Any of those are acceptable. Whatever is helpful to you and your creative development at the moment.
   
   
2. Can I include an image?
   
   You can include images or, if appropriate, submit only images. See Surface as an example.
   
   
3. Must the piece reference technology directly?
   
   The Lexicon is an expression of what it means to be human in a world where contemporary technology challenges how we, especially in the West, have thought about and defined the word ‘human’. Work submitted should connect to that aim. At its heart, the project plays with language forms – speech, text, picture, architecture, code for example – and asks whether what we’ve had till now, what we’ve known, the structure of signs through which the concept of the human emerged and was contained, remains adequate for the world we are grappling with today.
   
   If the above seems vague, perhaps it is, but it come from a deliberate desire for a sense of indeterminacy. My work resists narrowness, certainty, absolute frames. That resistance invariably extends into projects that invite others to respond or contribute, such as this one, or previously, Sense & Reason. Instead, I welcome the gaps – sometimes quite wide ones at that; chasms into which anyone who engages might fall, or else from which surprises may spring.
   
   
4. Will I be able to edit my work after submitting it?
   
   While the work is only online, yes, within reason, I will be happy to accept changes or additions. If the project is printed at any point, I will send a draft to all involved for final edits.
   
   
5. Is the project funded?
   
   At the moment (Autumn 2026), the project is not funded. As it develops, it may turn into something that funders would be willing to support. I aim to operate fairly and with transparency. While unfunded, I can only promise to provide a printed version to all named contributors (anonymous contributors are harder to reach for obvious reasons) if and when a printed version is produced.
   
   
6. Can I use LLMs and/or image generators or any other form of dynamic technology?
   
   Yes, I use them for a variety of reasons including generating code, technical support, research and copy-editing as well as text generation when formulaic text is required, for example legal documents, policy and ‘alt text’ for images. It would, therefore, be odd to prohibit them, especially given the aims of this project. I ask, however, for openness about how an LLM or image generator has been used. If a piece is largely generated, it may be worth including the prompt or a note on method/reason. If you have used these tools more lightly, a sentence saying so is welcome.
   
   Openness and method are more useful to the research-creation ethos of this project, and to my own work, than surreptitious concealment.
   
7. Are non-English entries acceptable?
   
   Entries in languages other than English are welcome, provided they come with an English translation. The Lexicon is edited in English, the editor’s language, so both versions will be published side by side. Contributors are responsible for their translations. Please say who translated the entry, including if machine translation was used. Other languages are also welcome within English entries, as etymologies, translations or words that don’t cross over neatly.