Cult cartoonists Modern Toss are set to unveil a working prototype of the first ever UK Swear Map, an interactive artwork and growing archive of regional swearing slang, at the London edition of their 21st anniversary exhibition.
The map is a 12-button mini tour of British swearing, letting visitors hear multiple regional voices at the push of a button, all listened to through a telephone receiver that hangs off the coast of Norfolk. It draws on a swear census created with linguists at the University of Sheffield: Blert in Liverpool, Cheb in Sunderland, Ballix in Belfast and more.
As regional dialects fade, and as Sheffield’s research shows AI often struggles with regional accents and non-standard English, the Swear Map documents English as it is actually spoken. This first prototype is the beginning of an ever-growing archive, and the public are invited to add their own words and voices at tinyurl.com/swearmap.
Dr Chris Montgomery of the University of Sheffield said: “Swearing is a fundamental part of how everybody expresses emotion, identity, humour and social connection, yet it’s so often excluded from formal records of language. At a time when some regional dialects might be disappearing, we wanted to document English as it’s truly lived and spoken across the UK.”
Jon Link of Modern Toss said: “We’ve spent years turning filthy data into charts and daft interactive art, and this let us do it with proper academic rigour, yeah? Press a button, hear the country swearing back at you. It’s a work in progress, so come and be part of it.”
The wider exhibition brings together more than 100 works, including the F***yeux Tapestry, a 103-metre cartoon reimagining of the Bayeux Tapestry originally made with hundreds of participants at Somerset House, returning to London as the real thing goes on show at the British Museum. Also on display: token-operated swearing machines, big stone heads, large-scale paintings, a wind-powered finger mill sculpture, a new 5m-wide ceiling mobile hung with four life-size flies, and a looped screening of 100 best cartoons and animation from the Modern Toss collection. Each ticket includes tokens for the interactive machines, including the world-famous Periodic Table of Swearing.
Co-founder Jon Link will also host live portrait sessions in the infamous Modern Toss Portrait Booth, sketching sitters from inside a custom-built photo booth and posting each drawing out through the wall.
Tickets available now at drawingroom.org.uk