the four letter taboo f*** is a documentary by UK filmmaker steven anderson

‘fuck’, by director steven anderson, US 2006

f*** is screening until march 5, 2009 at the ICA, london. http://www.ica.org.uk in general this is a word with greater potency when spoken than when written down. the f*** documentary seeks to tell the story of one of the most taboo words in the english language. an entertaining and provocative look at how everyone’s favorite f-word has variously enriched or infected western culture and how it is now a staple part of film, comedy, music and television. the origins appear to be germanic. there seems to be links to the 14th-century dutch word fokken(to strike) and the middle high german ficken (to rub), among others. the two world wars, which made soldiers out of millions of men, led to an explosion in use of the f-word, because it is one of the words that is universally understood. also non-english-speaking cultures tend to recognize the word’s vulgarity. it is understood in places where not much other english is understood and is said by people who don’t have much other capacity with the english language. of course, it is a myth that it is just the ill-educated who use the f-word excessively, but most of us avoid using the word in front of the older and younger generations. most countries censor it on television and radio. some newspapers and magazines have removed their asterisks from swear words, others continue to stick with them (the film you are reading about here was referred to in the new york times as ****).

‘f-ing tee’, design by chinese artist kinwah tsang for designboom, in limited edition of 100, screen printed in hong kong, 2005, sold out!

for spring summer 09, ‘another f-ing t-shirt’ by kin wahtsang, limited edition of 99 prints for designboom + shipping and handling = total a few sizes are still available.