Week 2: Semiotics and participants - I think I'm getting it now.

Let me start by saying I have art knowledge rivaled only by my ability to perform an at home appendectomy (the latter likely being more successful). But I think I am getting it now. I am the interactive participant since I am viewing the images (signs) but so is the creator of the image containing the represented participant - people, places, things and abstracts . [Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006:p47] The semiotics are the signs given the signifier (form) and signified (realized meaning). [Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006:p7]

I have to admit that this was painful at first. So many terms thrown at once, it was overwhelming. So, I did what any student would do. I called my children to the room and we watched The Avengers for the umpteenth time. An there is was.

Suddenly there was so much that made sense, only I had never thought of it in this way before. The writers, director, costume designers, the actors, my children - all of these interactive participants. The represented participants were innumerable but included: deception, good, evil, heroes, villains, gods, war, unity, trust, teamwork, aliens, Manhattan.

Given the nature of society today and the scope of the Marvel universe, I would be hard pressed to find a person that would not know at least a few of these symbols:

No?

Maybe this one is easier:

Kress, van Leewen. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design.
[Images from the Internet and used here simply for demonstration.]