Semiology or semiotics is the science that studies the life of signs within a society. French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure formulated theory of language at the beginning of 20th century. American C.S. Pierce made similar discoveries at the same time.
CREATIVE ARTS
Semiotics not limited to language. Everything that involves communication, even non-deliberate, relates to these theories. Semiotics is applied to animal behavior, social habits, architecture, poetry, mythology, etc, etc, etc
Images work via communication system - a language of their own. Images can be supported by words - captions, labels, etc - that tell us how to interpret and use images. This can affect ithe nitial ‘reading’ of the visual. Images work via a communication system - a language of their own.
Like texts, most pictures are comprised of parts arranged on a surface. When the various elements of the picture interact, associations may be formed that suggest/state/attest/define/direct meaning.
Key Terms
Sign (signifier and signified)
Symbol (open and closed)
Icon
Index
Myth
Most of these terms are overused and poorly understood. Eg, any well known manifestation of popular culture gets the title ‘iconic’, however this is not a proper use of the term.
Sign
Signs are events or things that direct attention or are indicative of other events or things. They are a link between the object and the real world. Anything that represents something else is a sign. A sign is a stimulus pattern that has a meaning, and has a structure defined as the association between a signifier and a signified.
A drawing of a tree represents a tree.
The picture = signified
The tree = signifier
The sign requires the presence of both the picture and the object.
Icon
An icon looks like what it is signifying. Computer icons, pictographs used on "pedestrian crossing" signs are examples if icons.
There is no real connection between an object and an icon of it other than the likeness, so the mind is required to see the similarity and associate the two itself. The icon is a pattern that physically resembles what it `stands for'. A characteristic of the icon is that by observing it, we can derive information about its signified. The more simplified the image, the less I'll learn, but I will still learn. No other kind of sign gives that kind of information.
• A picture of your face is an icon of you.
• The little square with a picture of a printer on your computer screen is an icon for the print function.
• The picture of a smoking cigarette with a diagonal bar across the picture is an icon that directly
represents `Smoking? Don't do it' (at least it does with appropriate cultural experience).
• Your cat is preparing to jump up on your lap, so you put out the palm of your hand over the cat.
• Words can be partly iconic. Bow-wow, splash and hiccup. And the bird called the whippoorwill. (These are also called onomotopoetic words.)
Problems with the icon are just how similar must it be to be called an icon? Just because we can recognize a picture doesn't mean any other animal could.
Index
An index has a causal and/or sequential relationship to its signified. A key to understanding indices (or indexes) is the verb "indicate", of which "index" is a substantive. Indices are directly perceivable events that can act as a reference to events that are not directly perceivable, or in other words they are a physical representation of something out of sight. You may not see a fire, but you do see the smoke and that indicates to you that a fire is burning. Similarly, you cannot see sadness, but you can see the tears that indicate it.
Index are defined by some sensory feature (directly visible, audible, smellable, etc) that correlates with and implies or `points to’ something of interest.
* All animals exploit various kinds of indexical signs
* Less sophisticated animals acquire them by natural selection.
* More intelligent animals learn them.
• Dark clouds in the west are an index of impending rain,
• A limping gait is a sign (index) that an animal is physically impaired
• A scowling facial expression is an index of displeasure or concern (to a human)
• A particular pronunciation of a word can index a particular geographic place or social group.
The word "this", like a pointed finger, are also indices. The nature of the index has nothing to do with that of the signified, but the connection here is logical and organic -- the two elements are inseparable -- and there is little or no participation of the mind. Indices are generally non-deliberate, although arrows are just one example of deliberate ones.
All pictures are indexical - they isolate a portion of a scene which is present more fully in the actual world of perception. They are also icons.
Symbol
A symbol represents something in a completely arbitrary relationship. The connection between signifier and signified depends entirely on the observer, or more exactly, what the observer was taught. Symbols are subjective, dictated either by social convention or by habit. Words are a prime example of symbols. A group of sounds or a group of characters, words are only linked to their signified because we decide they are (language) – and because the connection is neither physical nor logical, words change meaning or objects change names as time goes by. It all happens in the mind. Symbols are ideas, and whenever we use one we are only pointing to the idea behind that symbol.
Computer aliases (or shortcuts) - You create a file that opens the actual file it refers to. If you trash the alias/shortcut, it doesn't affect the file. Symbols work in a similar way: they are in relation to the concept they serve. The $ symbol, astrological symbols, road signs, V of victory, are all symbols. They look nothing like what they stand for: arbitrary. A symbol can rarely tell us anything more about its signifier than we already know.
ORDER OF SIGNIFICATION
Roland Barthes concept:
1. First order is iconic sign (photo of car means car)
2. Second order - connotations - human intervention (lighting, pose, camera angle)
Myth arises from experiences we have had and the associations we have learnt to couple with signs. This is related to culture and language.
CREATIVE ARTS
Semiotics not limited to language. Everything that involves communication, even non-deliberate, relates to these theories. Semiotics is applied to animal behavior, social habits, architecture, poetry, mythology, etc, etc, etc
AND ART.
We see evidence of signs in much artistic practice. It’s a means of communication, used to deepen meaning and contextualize the time, place, and person. Symbols, signs, indices and icons provide us with the ability to sort information, appropriate meaning and ultimately communicate more effectively.Images work via communication system - a language of their own. Images can be supported by words - captions, labels, etc - that tell us how to interpret and use images. This can affect ithe nitial ‘reading’ of the visual. Images work via a communication system - a language of their own.
Like texts, most pictures are comprised of parts arranged on a surface. When the various elements of the picture interact, associations may be formed that suggest/state/attest/define/direct meaning.
Key Terms
Sign (signifier and signified)
Symbol (open and closed)
Icon
Index
Myth
Most of these terms are overused and poorly understood. Eg, any well known manifestation of popular culture gets the title ‘iconic’, however this is not a proper use of the term.
Sign
Signs are events or things that direct attention or are indicative of other events or things. They are a link between the object and the real world. Anything that represents something else is a sign. A sign is a stimulus pattern that has a meaning, and has a structure defined as the association between a signifier and a signified.
A drawing of a tree represents a tree.
The picture = signified
The tree = signifier
The sign requires the presence of both the picture and the object.
An icon looks like what it is signifying. Computer icons, pictographs used on "pedestrian crossing" signs are examples if icons.
There is no real connection between an object and an icon of it other than the likeness, so the mind is required to see the similarity and associate the two itself. The icon is a pattern that physically resembles what it `stands for'. A characteristic of the icon is that by observing it, we can derive information about its signified. The more simplified the image, the less I'll learn, but I will still learn. No other kind of sign gives that kind of information.
• A picture of your face is an icon of you.
• The little square with a picture of a printer on your computer screen is an icon for the print function.
• The picture of a smoking cigarette with a diagonal bar across the picture is an icon that directly
represents `Smoking? Don't do it' (at least it does with appropriate cultural experience).
• Your cat is preparing to jump up on your lap, so you put out the palm of your hand over the cat.
• Words can be partly iconic. Bow-wow, splash and hiccup. And the bird called the whippoorwill. (These are also called onomotopoetic words.)
Problems with the icon are just how similar must it be to be called an icon? Just because we can recognize a picture doesn't mean any other animal could.
Index
An index has a causal and/or sequential relationship to its signified. A key to understanding indices (or indexes) is the verb "indicate", of which "index" is a substantive. Indices are directly perceivable events that can act as a reference to events that are not directly perceivable, or in other words they are a physical representation of something out of sight. You may not see a fire, but you do see the smoke and that indicates to you that a fire is burning. Similarly, you cannot see sadness, but you can see the tears that indicate it.
Index are defined by some sensory feature (directly visible, audible, smellable, etc) that correlates with and implies or `points to’ something of interest.
* All animals exploit various kinds of indexical signs
* Less sophisticated animals acquire them by natural selection.
* More intelligent animals learn them.
• A limping gait is a sign (index) that an animal is physically impaired
• A scowling facial expression is an index of displeasure or concern (to a human)
• A particular pronunciation of a word can index a particular geographic place or social group.
The word "this", like a pointed finger, are also indices. The nature of the index has nothing to do with that of the signified, but the connection here is logical and organic -- the two elements are inseparable -- and there is little or no participation of the mind. Indices are generally non-deliberate, although arrows are just one example of deliberate ones.
All pictures are indexical - they isolate a portion of a scene which is present more fully in the actual world of perception. They are also icons.
Symbol
A symbol represents something in a completely arbitrary relationship. The connection between signifier and signified depends entirely on the observer, or more exactly, what the observer was taught. Symbols are subjective, dictated either by social convention or by habit. Words are a prime example of symbols. A group of sounds or a group of characters, words are only linked to their signified because we decide they are (language) – and because the connection is neither physical nor logical, words change meaning or objects change names as time goes by. It all happens in the mind. Symbols are ideas, and whenever we use one we are only pointing to the idea behind that symbol.
Computer aliases (or shortcuts) - You create a file that opens the actual file it refers to. If you trash the alias/shortcut, it doesn't affect the file. Symbols work in a similar way: they are in relation to the concept they serve. The $ symbol, astrological symbols, road signs, V of victory, are all symbols. They look nothing like what they stand for: arbitrary. A symbol can rarely tell us anything more about its signifier than we already know.
ORDER OF SIGNIFICATION
Roland Barthes concept:
1. First order is iconic sign (photo of car means car)
2. Second order - connotations - human intervention (lighting, pose, camera angle)
Myth arises from experiences we have had and the associations we have learnt to couple with signs. This is related to culture and language.
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