Beautiful Swear Words
Encyclopedia
Beautiful Swear Words is an ongoing series of artworks by American artist T Mercy
. Each work consists of a swear word
, rendered by hand and digitally colored. The series gained wide critical and popular acclaim when T Mercy
was just seventeen years old.
T Mercy
has stated on his website that he began the series during "Summer 2011... with no girlfriend, no art supplies except paper and pens, and a passion for words like 'Cunt' and 'Fuck.'"
, T Mercy
stated: "My obsession with swearing definitely predated my obsession with typography. In kindergarten, we were learning words four letters long for each letter of the Alphabet. We went through A, B, and C, and when we got to F, I said, 'how about fuck?'"
He also cited frustrations with his high school curriculum as a contributing factor to the site's conception: ""There's no better place for artistic vision to thrive than in a boring classroom."
featured it on its homepage on July 20, 2011. Shortly after that, the site was featured by major internet news outlets like Gizmodo
, TrendHunter, Buzzfeed
, and Swiss miss
. It reached the top of Delicious's list of hotlinks, and spent a week on the front page of Reddit
's typography section.
Cartoon Network
's Adult Swim
ran a 15-second TV spot about Beautiful Swear Words five times nationally during a week in August, 2011.
Tumblr
has featured Beautiful Swear Words on its Spotlight Directory since September, 2011.
According to the Beautiful Swear Words Twitter feed, the blog has more than 10,000 "followers" on Tumblr as of October, 2011.
T Mercy
T Mercy is an American artist. His work deals with controversial subjects like profanity and pornography.He has cited Italian Renaissance painters like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo as influences, as well as contemporary musicians like Earl Sweatshirt and Waka Flocka Flame.-Artworks:His works...
. Each work consists of a swear word
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
, rendered by hand and digitally colored. The series gained wide critical and popular acclaim when T Mercy
T Mercy
T Mercy is an American artist. His work deals with controversial subjects like profanity and pornography.He has cited Italian Renaissance painters like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo as influences, as well as contemporary musicians like Earl Sweatshirt and Waka Flocka Flame.-Artworks:His works...
was just seventeen years old.
T Mercy
T Mercy
T Mercy is an American artist. His work deals with controversial subjects like profanity and pornography.He has cited Italian Renaissance painters like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo as influences, as well as contemporary musicians like Earl Sweatshirt and Waka Flocka Flame.-Artworks:His works...
has stated on his website that he began the series during "Summer 2011... with no girlfriend, no art supplies except paper and pens, and a passion for words like 'Cunt' and 'Fuck.'"
Background and concept
In an interview with the Bay CitizenThe Bay Citizen
The Bay Citizen is a non-profit news organization covering the San Francisco Bay Area. It was founded as the Bay Area News Project in January 2010 with money provided by Warren Hellman's Hellman Family Foundation. On May 26, 2010 the organization launched the website, baycitizen.org...
, T Mercy
T Mercy
T Mercy is an American artist. His work deals with controversial subjects like profanity and pornography.He has cited Italian Renaissance painters like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo as influences, as well as contemporary musicians like Earl Sweatshirt and Waka Flocka Flame.-Artworks:His works...
stated: "My obsession with swearing definitely predated my obsession with typography. In kindergarten, we were learning words four letters long for each letter of the Alphabet. We went through A, B, and C, and when we got to F, I said, 'how about fuck?'"
He also cited frustrations with his high school curriculum as a contributing factor to the site's conception: ""There's no better place for artistic vision to thrive than in a boring classroom."
Reception
The site first gained popular visibility when Boing BoingBoing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
featured it on its homepage on July 20, 2011. Shortly after that, the site was featured by major internet news outlets like Gizmodo
Gizmodo
Gizmodo is a technology weblog about consumer electronics. It is part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton and is known for its up-to-date coverage of the technology industry, along with topics as broad as design; architecture; space and science....
, TrendHunter, Buzzfeed
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed is a website that combines a technology platform for detecting viral content with an editorial selection process to provide a snapshot of "the viral web in realtime." Cofounded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti , BuzzFeed is located in SoHo, New York.-Homepage content:The BuzzFeed homepage consists...
, and Swiss miss
Swiss Miss
Swiss Miss is a brand name for cocoa powder and pudding products sold by American food company, ConAgra Foods, Inc. Created with a blend of "dark European cocoa", Swiss Miss is a well-established brand of instant hot chocolate in America...
. It reached the top of Delicious's list of hotlinks, and spent a week on the front page of Reddit
Reddit
reddit is a social news website where the registered users submit content, in the form of either a link or a text "self" post. Other users then vote the submission "up" or "down," which is used to rank the post and determine its position on the site's pages and front page.Reddit was originally...
's typography section.
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
's Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
ran a 15-second TV spot about Beautiful Swear Words five times nationally during a week in August, 2011.
Tumblr
Tumblr
Tumblr is a website and microblogging platform that allows users to post text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio to their tumblelog, a short-form blog. Users can follow other users, or choose to make their tumblelog private. The service emphasizes ease of use. The site ranks as the 10th...
has featured Beautiful Swear Words on its Spotlight Directory since September, 2011.
According to the Beautiful Swear Words Twitter feed, the blog has more than 10,000 "followers" on Tumblr as of October, 2011.
Apparel
Limited edition Beautiful Swear Words T-shirts are periodically available on the Beautiful Swear Words Apparel store.External links
- The official Beautiful Swear Words website
- The official website of T Mercy, creator of Beautiful Swear Words
- Beautiful Swear Words T-shirt store
- TV Spot about Beautiful Swear Words on Adult SwimAdult SwimAdult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
- Beautiful Swear Words on GizmodoGizmodoGizmodo is a technology weblog about consumer electronics. It is part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton and is known for its up-to-date coverage of the technology industry, along with topics as broad as design; architecture; space and science....