In this class we start with the basic parameters of semiotic analysis and introduce Saussure's terminology of sign, signifier, and signified.

1. MODULE 6.1
SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS
Art 100
UnderstandingVisual Culture

2. M6 overview
 What is semiotic analysis and how do I do it?
 Practicing semiotic analysis, together as a
group

3. Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Split Button, 1981
Aluminum painted with polyurethane enamel
16 ft diameter x 10 inches thick
Height from ground when sited: 4 ft. 11 in. (1.5 m)

4. 1. Identify medium and materials.
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. Older conception

8. …gives way to the new.

9. sign
 Sign=signifier + signified
 Signifier (discrete visual element)
 Signified (meaning)

10. 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.”

11. 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.

12. Why are we studying this
theory of language in art
class? Does this mean visual
imagery is like a language?
To some extent, yes.

13. 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.

14. Whatdoesredmean
in thiscontext?

15. What does red mean in
this context?

16. Whatdoesredmeaninthiscontext?
Jessica Alba for Campari
Limited edition calendar, 2009

17. There is no simple equation (signifier (red)=signified (x).
The signified depends in part upon the context in which you find
the signifier.

18. So, what do you think red means in these next examples?

19. Mark Rothko
Untitled, 1960
oil on canvas
56 1/8 x 54 1/8
inches

20. Gerhard Richter, Party, 1963
Oil, nails and cord on canvas and newspaper
72 x 60 inches

21. 1. Identify medium and materials if possible.
2. Identify major formal elements.