4th October 2022

What did I take from our last session?

To See – is a process of observing and recognizing

To Look – is to actively make meaning of the world

Semiotics are a representation – a scientific study of production and use of signs

The interpretation of signs and language – visual literacy

We are meaning makers – Homosignificant.

Well thats a lot to think about in those simple statements. As artists we need to be aware of what we create and how a simple change in an image, like a colour or adding a badge, change a word in a slogan can seem very simple, but have huge connotations in the meaning.

Rolant Barthes Term “Death of the Author” – nothing counts more than what the reader understands and does with the sign. (Baldwin J Roberts, 2014) Adding text to an image fixes it’s meaning to the one most likely.

Understanding semiotics and how an observer is likely to interpret your image and give it meaning, is useful for political advertising and propaganda.

The advances in technology over the past 60 years and how production processes can be blended changes expectations in how we interpret work. Also looking back at some of the examples with hindsight and modern perspective, there are many adverts or images that portray a different and sometimes uncomfortable representation of the world. That back in the 1940’s and 1950’s portrayed society as it was in the rules then, like the segregation of black passengers on public transport in America, which would be frowned upon today, unless it was being used in the correct historical context.

For most of us Semiotics are seen every single day in Road Signs. We know the caution signs for Children Crossing, Elderly People, Horse Riders and the instructional signs, for giving way, one way, priority to oncoming traffic etc.