/a/ is a marble plaque on which is engraved the French set expression "la main à la bouche" ("the hand to the mouth"), or perhaps "la main a la bouche" ("the hand has the mouth"), since the grave accent on the "à" has scratched, vandalized. While the sound of the expression stays the same, the simple act of removing the grave accent from the letter in its written form transforms the preposition "to" into the verb "has", giving the hand an authoritative relationship over the mouth.

The hand has been for a long time a supplement to the mouth in direct human communication thru the none verbal body language it allows but, these days, the hand increasingly HAS the mouth as it has become the main channel to express our digital voice.  We are invited to mourn the ambiguity of such an origin.

​

​

​

​

​

​