Notes: Semiotics

What is a sign?
A sign is the vehicle of meaning

What is semiotics?
The study of signs; born out of linguistics. The study of how things give meaning, not what things mean which is symbolism.

Sign Types
Iconic- e.g a photo, where there is an obvious explicit link
Indexical- e.g smoke being the sign of a fire. It is inferred and can be worked out.
Symbolic- e.g a flag where there is no link at all and it is convention. It has to be learn and codified.

Semiotics is based on codes. It works on cultural convention. Linguistics operate, e.g d o and g = dog which is a signifier of the signified, a dog. Culture operates like a language.

Everything we can analyse as text.

Denotations are the obvious analysis- e.g suit.
Connotations are the linked analysis- e.g businessman

Myth- green and pleasant land (Constable).

Synchronic vs Diachronic

Diachronic: Time based, evolutionary, chain of events, syntagmatic structure.
Synchronic: Snapshot, one instant, instant, paradigms (paradigmatic)

Metaphor vs Metonyms

Intertextuality

Saussure (top right)
Signifier denotation: trophy
Signified connotation: winning

Lecture Notes: Communication Theory

Laswell Theory of Communication

Shannon-Weaver model, including feedback (not on model).

Three levels of potential communication problems
Level 1: Technical
Accuracy
Systems of encoding and decoding
Compatability of systems.need for specialist equipment/knowledge

Level 2: Semantic
Precision of language
How much of the message can be lost without meaning being lost?
Which language to use?

Level 3: Effectiveness
Does the message affect behaviour the way we want it to?
What can be done if the required effect fails to happen?

Communicator A > Encode with language > Message with medium > Receive and Interpret > Communicator B > Encode with language > Message with medium > Receive and Interpret > Communicator A

BARB: Broadcasters Audience Research Board
Audience categories such as men, children, adults

Audience sub categories/demographics
A: Upper Middle- lecturers
B: Middle- Teacher
C1: Lower Middle- Call Centre worker
C2: Skilled working- Plumber
D: Working- Unskilled workers
E: Bottom- Relying on state

Semiotics
Semantics addresses what a sign stands for
Syntactics: the relations among signs
Pragmatics: how to apply the theory- making it practical.

Systems theory is interdisciplinary

Semiosphere
Semiotics are languages. Medicine boxes, for example, all look similar and can be recognised as having their place in a pharmacy.

Barthes grammar of narrative
Levi Strauss ethnography and semiotics
Lacan relates semiotics to psychoanalysis

Trainers
Trainers being bought to send signs not to be practical running or exercise shoes. They had become a sign- people trying to send a signal.

Limitations of semiotics
Prioritise structure over usage

Semiotics
Panzani Image code

Building codes

Danger, place and Airport analogy. How do we decode this?
Semiotics presumes that readings are clear.
Gestalt Psychology: Psychotherapist/Psycho The Rapist
Changing patterns are key. Why are we in tune to this? A change in the pattern is noticed.

The Phenomenological Tradition
Phenomenon refers to the appearance of an object
Authentic human relationships lack, but are needed

The embodied mind
Body and mind are joint
Physiological classification of coding and encoding
faces and emotions. Animators use prosthetic protractor. Phenomenological thinking.

Interpretation
the process of interpretation is central
What is real for the person

Rhetoric
Hyperbole
Irony
Personification
Art of persuasion
Socrates/Plato.
Rhetoric used for power in males in ancient civilisations when speaking at senate. Problematic though as used by dicators.

Pictures without con(text) are meaningless. They need to be anchored to mean anything.

Metaphor: Memory Theatre.

Socio Psychological
Constitutive
Cognitive
Biological

Socio Cultural Tradition
Yorkshire ISP: better because of culture
Cultural traditions work out interactively in communication
Accents mean something
Mediate culture

Socio critical
Christ sensitive analogy.

Lecture Notes: The Gaze

Call of Duty
1st Person & 3rd person options- the 1st person is preferred.
What causes us to engage with hurt? Power & gameplay.

Pyschoanalysis is the analysis of the options and controls that we choose in life.

Laura Mulvey
Visual pleasures - Narrative Cinema

Scopophilia
- Pleasure of looking at others bodies as object (Freud)
- Perversions and objects

Narcissistic identification

Mirror stage: Jacques Lacan
-A childs own body is less perfect than reflection e.g Radioactive Man/Comic Book Guy

Structures of looking
-Cinema thrives on this

Male is not to be looked at & represents power

Suture
-Spectators look through eyes of the actors in the film
-Suture can be broken to make viewer feel guilty

Spectators gaze- looking at one
Intradiagetic gaze- looking at others in scene
Extradiagetic gaze- looking outwards e.g TV newsreader/break 4th wall

Etant Donnes- Being Give. Are we being given the power of the gaze?

Blog Task: On Popular Music

Kylie Minogue: Can't Get You Out of My Head.

Can't Get You Out of My Head proves that 'the whole structure of popular music is standardised' (Adorno, 1941). It successfully manages to stick in people's heads because there are very few aberrations, and when they occur, it soon 'leads back to the same familiar experience'. One can fully know what to expect in the entirety of the track just from listening to the introduction. Adorno describes it as 'the whole is pre-given and pre-accepted'.

Adorno states that 'it is imperative to hide standardisation' and this is because 'the reality of individual achievement must be maintained'. In this instance for example, Kylie retains her individual image but is merely another cog in the wheel of Parlophone.

Woman as Object

Much like many of her videos, this video portrays Kylie as an object to be admired. The entire concept is based on a scopophilic pleasure.

In terms of beauty being dictated from men, is there any better example than Kylie's video for 'Slow'? There is a heavy spectators gaze with Kylie often in the emphasised centre of the shot.

Both of the videos shown above are almost so obvious in demonstrating the standardisation of popular music and displaying the woman as an object that one would be forgiven for thinking the videos are parodistic. Of course in truth, the tracks are not parodistic, they are simply pre-digested.

Blog Task: The Panopticon

London Underground’s Oyster Card is a prime example of panopticism. While it claims to make journeys and paying easier, and arguably does, it also has a secondary role as an extra security force- tracking each persons movements from the moment they touch in, including how long they have been on the network.

In a metaphorical sense, this is a devolution of power. Foucault states that ‘each street is placed under the authority of a syndic, who keeps it under surveillance’ (Foucault in Discipline & Punish, 1977, P61). In this case, a metro network has been placed under the authority of a syndic.

He also mentions that ‘the crowd is abolished and replaced by a collection of separated individualities’(Foucault in Discipline & Punish, 1977, P65). Perhaps formerly, commuters thought they could merge into one mass- now each is tracked as individuals.

It’s also a clear example of submitted power by the bearer; ‘the inmates should be caught up in a power situation of which they themselves are the bearers’(Foucault in Discipline & Punish, 1977, P65). No-one is forced to get an Oyster card, but an increasing majority submit to it.

Oyster has enabled outer stations to not have ticket barriers; instead penalties ‘may’ be incurred if you do not touch in/out; comparable to the Foulcauldian idea that ‘there are no more bars, chains or heavy locks’(Foucault in Discipline & Punish, 1977, P66).

Oyster claims to be an easy fare paying system when actually it cannot be linked to any specific use. Foulcault says a panopticon is a figure of political technology that may and must be detached from any specific use. Through Oyster’s party-political foundings (a Livingstone project) used for other purposes (security/tracking/surveillance) and its obvious use, it is a clear example of a panoptic method of control.

Foulcalt, M (1977), Penguin Books Ltd, London

The Digital Age

This blog has discussed modernism, post modernism, the document, media, art and advertising among other things; however they have all been studied in relation to ‘traditional’ mediums. Traditional here is used in the sense that it is not a design of the digital era.

We are at the dawn of perhaps the biggest revolution in history that is already changing not just the way we communicate, but the way we live, work and think. It is critical to recognise this change in relation to design otherwise we risk losing out to the fast changing world.

The BBC is currently running a season called ‘Superpower’, asking the question ‘is the internet the most powerful thing the world has ever seen?’ A simple answer would be no. At a first glance, one would analyse the internet alongside other forms of media and simply as another new thing in society. On closer inspection however, it is hard to think of something that comes even close to the power of the internet.

For the very first time in history, anybody can publish anything, to anyone, anywhere. And most incredibly, it can be done within seconds. There are some who have yet to acknowledge this, but the sooner they do, the better. Humans can embrace the internet to pursue whatever goal they want in life, but equally it can be used for bad.

It is changing the way we live. We are connected twenty four hours a day. When we are not at home on the computer, we are carrying mobile internet around with us on our phones. When this is related to design, this gives designers incredible power to try new concepts. Designers are already working on many new ideas in this area. One example is Google’s Street View, where companies are able to pay for virtual advertising space on billboards on street view. In real terms, this literally doubles the amount of physical advertising space in the world. Another concept being tested is demand-driven adverts; billboards that via a camera using technology similar to face recognition can see the brand on the bag one is carrying, and display an advert for that retailer.

It is changing the way we work. Many teachers and lecturers still advocate libraries as the best place to research, whereas those of the younger generations turn to the internet before any other method. How does one reach a balance; if there is one at all? We are also not commuting to workplaces as much as we once were. The internet has opened up ebusiness, where one can host online meetings and conferences while each person works from home. It is increasingly the case that an employee will only have to visit the office once a week, if ever.

It is also changing the way we think. Younger generations no longer associate themselves with their county, but with the network they are part of on Facebook. They no longer associate themselves with their country, but the online community they are part of, such as YouTube. Friends have been redefined; ‘friends’ means the number of connections you have- even if it is to total strangers because no-one truly has thousands of friends. Our concentration spans have shortened too. We do not think linearly anymore, but associatively. Surfing the web using hyperlinks hopping around information is a completely different way of learning to reading a book from cover to cover, working through chapters.

Upcoming designers cannot afford to miss out on this revolution. They must embrace these changes in society in order to allow their designs to be understood by society. The critical thing about the internet is that it is not just another form of communication; it is something that is changing our very humanity.

Banksy: Image Analysis

This Banksy classic conveys a strong political point regarding to the Palestine Wall.

The initial reaction is thought-provoking and evokes the feeling of anger. Banksy has cleverly used faith, an issue personal to many, as a political tool. The use of Mary & Joseph drives the issue home to the western world, where the large majority of people are Christian (or at least are ‘culturally Christian’).

It is interesting how there is a metaphorical juxtaposition in that Mary & Joseph, and by extension Christianity, represents things like peace and love, where as the wall is a product of hate and division. In this image, the wall prevents the good intentions from being carried out. It therefore motivates the viewer to act on the issue, even though there is no stated intention to do this on the image itself; it speaks for itself.

There is also a visual juxtaposition between the old/traditional and new/modern. A very traditional picture-perfect scene is depicted in oil paints, yet this has been purposely vandalised by a modern monstrosity cutting through the image. There is the use of modern English as graffiti on the wall, as well as strong geometric shapes coloured shades of grey. The construction of the image is a complete reflection upon society.

In many ways, the picture is realistic and depicts an event that many believe occurred. In other ways however, the image represents the negation of humanity that the barrier represents. One would assume that ‘the grass is greener on the other side’ as the star is on that side, however the reality is that life is not particularly better on that side- and in fact if one is to study the nativity, life is certainly worse in Bethlehem. It is therefore intriguing that the image provokes feelings of anger and the urge to tear the wall down in order to create peace, despite the reality being somewhat different to what we want to believe. The image makes us believe what we want to believe, rather than what is true.

One may read into the position of the Shepherd in the image too, and question why he is there when the wise men are not. Banksy is attempting to make a further political point, demonstrating that it always has been, and always will be, the poorest and most disadvantaged in society that suffer from the evil in the world. It could be assumed that the wise men had ‘arrangements’ to get through the barrier, just as those in positions of importance today have.
It is indeed a powerful image that the majority of people can relate to in various ways. It seems that this painting is the peak of Banksy’s series of works relating to the Palestine Wall, and he has created an incredibly successful piece of work here to summarise his feelings.