ART100Sp16Module6.2
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This document provides an overview of semiotic analysis and key concepts from Ferdinand de Saussure's theory of signs. It explains that a sign is composed of a signifier (the form that the sign takes) and signified (the concept it represents). Meaning comes from how signs are differentiated within a system. Charles Sanders Peirce identified three types of signs: icons which resemble the object, indexes which are causally connected, and symbols which are arbitrarily defined by convention. Semiotic analysis can help determine the meaning of visual art by examining how formal elements and contextual factors contribute to what a work signifies.
ART100Sp16Module6.2
- 1. Module 6.2 Semiotic Analysis Art 100 Understanding Visual Culture
- 2. M6 overview ▪ What is semiotic analysis and how do I do it? ▪ Practicing semiotic analysis ▫ Together as a group ▫ Then in small groups
- 3. Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Split Button, 1981, Philadelphia, PA aluminum painted with polyurethane enamel, 16 ft. diameter x 10 in. thick Height from ground when sited: 4 ft. 11 in.
- 4. 1. Identify medium and materials (use caption to help)! 2. Identify major formal elements.
- 5. Ferdinand de Saussure Born Geneva, Switzerland, 1857 Trained in ancient and modern languages at the University of Geneva and later, the University of Leipzig. Taught in Paris and Geneva. Died in 1913. FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE
- 6. Taught at University of Geneva, during academic years 1906-7, 1908-9, 1910-11. First published 1916 by a team of students who carefully collated their lecture notes. Course in General Linguistics
- 7. Saussure attacks this older conception of how language works
- 8. and proposes a new alternative
- 9. Key implications of this shift ▪ 1. The sign is arbitrary. ▫ There is no necessary link between a particular set of sounds and the concept it designates. ▫ The sound and concept are united within the confines of a particular language and culture. ▫ In English the rooster says “cock-a-doodle- do”; in French “cocorico”; in German “kikiriki.”
- 10. Key implications of this shift ▪ 2. The sign creates meaning differentially, in relation to other signs. ▫ Dog is not cat, not chipmunk, not chocolate chip cookie. ▫ Meaning is context-dependent. ▫ “You dog!” might sometimes refer to a dog, other times to a human.
- 11. sign ▪ Sign=signifier + signified ▪ Signifier (discrete visual element) ▪ Signified (meaning)
- 12. can be laid out like this: signifiers: signifieds:
- 13. Why are we studying this theory of language in art class? Does this mean visual imagery is like a language? To some extent, yes.
- 14. How do these insights help us to understand the language of visual imagery? Let’s work with an example: the semiotics of the color red.
- 15. What does red mean in this context?
- 16. What does red mean in this context?
- 17. What does red mean in this context? Jessica Alba for Campari Limited edition calendar, 2009
- 18. There is no simple equation (signifier (red)=signified (x). The signified depends in part upon the context in which you find the signifier.
- 19. So, what do you think red means in these next examples?
- 20. Mark Rothko Untitled, 1960 oil on canvas 56 1/8 x 54 1/8 inches
- 21. Gerhard Richter, Party, 1963 Oil, nails and cord on canvas and newspaper 72 x 60 inches
- 22. Charles Saunders PEIRCE (“purse”) (1839- 1914) American thinker, mathematics, science, logic, semiotics http://www.iupui.edu/~peirce/
- 23. three types of signs types • icon: represents the object through some similarity or resemblance • index: represents the object by being a physical trace of it • symbol: represents the object by convention (social agreement) examples • example of icon: smiley face, representational art • example of index: fingerprint • example of symbol: pretty much all of language, in which words have no necessary relationship to the concept they represent
- 24. explanation of three of Peirce’s sign types
- 26. index: a type of sign that is physically connected to its making
- 27. index: a type of sign physically connected to its making
- 28. Robert RAUSCHENBERG, Automobile Tire Print, 1953 paint on 20 sheets of paper mounted on fabric, 16 1/2 in. x 264 1/2 inches, SFMOMA, © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY use of indexical marks in art
- 29. Gabriel OROZCO Chicotes (Whips) 2010 installed at the Tate Modern use of indexical marks in art
- 30. Christoph NIEMANN, Coffee, New York Times blog, December 2, 2008
- 32. sign • Sign=signifier + signified • Signifier (discrete visual element) • Signified (meaning)
- 33. Semiotic analysis is as good a way as any—and perhaps a better way—of determining meaning. What does the art REALLY mean? does it mean what the artist thinks it means? or what the artist says it means? or does it mean what it says it means?