Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs and their meaning in society. 

• A sign is something which can stand for something else – in other words, a sign is anything that can convey meaning. 
• Visual signs - photographs, paintings, drawings, advertisements, street signs.

Icon

• A visual image that serves as a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it. Example, an icon of womanhood. 
• Digital Technology
• A picture that appears on a screen and is used to represent content or action. 
• Example, tap the icon to download the app. 
• People as Icons
• A person that is revered or idolized. 
• Example, Elvis Presley is a cultural icon of the 20th century. Migrant Mother Photograph an iconic image for the Great Depression. 
• Pictorial Images
• Keeps characteristics. 
• Example, Instagram icon, Restroom Signage, Handicap Signage. 

Index

• Indicate something. 
• Compare to icon - it is not the object itself.
• Does not resemble the "something". 
• Has some relationship to the thing it represents - is one step removed. 
• Connected to another object or event. 
• Example - A footprint is an index that a person was in a space. 

Symbols

• No resemblance to the thing it represents. 
• Can only mean something if person knows (culture or previous knowledge).
• A learned sign. 
• Example - The circle/cross shape that signifies the female gender. 

    

Analyzing subject matter in an artwork, 

specifically symbols whose meaning is understood 

by a people or culture in that specific time period. 

Oranges

Dog

Carved Figure on Bed Post

Brush Hanging from Bed Post

Spotless Mirror

Green Dress and White Cap

Cherry Tree

Learn more, go to links below:

https://www.logodesignlove.com/symbol-sourcebook-henry-dreyfuss

https://www.logodesignlove.com/hobo-signs-and-symbols

Great Art Explained in Fifteen Minutes

Basquiat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHePKNTRmdI

The Brilliance and Symbolism of Basquiat's Flesh and Spirit

Three Minutes

Explaining the Explosion of Iconography in Basquiat's "Pyro"

Eleven Minutes

Platforms for Expression

Platform - an opportunity to voice one's views or initiate action.
Venue - a place where something happens.
Medium - a means by which something is communicated, determined by it's materials and method of production.

All In The Family, 1971-1979.

The Jefferesons, 1975 -1985.

Source link here.

Studio 54, Manhatten, 1977 - 1981.

Mudd Club - named after Samuel Alexander Mudd.  Club located in Manhatten, open 1978 - 1983.

"Whether playing a gig at CBGB or sipping champagne at exclusive galleries, Basquiat was ensconced in a primarily white world. Yet, his work demonstrates a strong black identity. His paintings pay homage to Charlie Parker, Jimmy Hendrix and Malcolm X. The triple spiked crown and halo are quintessential Basquiat symbols repeated in his narratives, in which he anoints his heroes with an angelic, mythic or martyr status. Social injustice, materialism and racism are addressed head on, with great irony and little subtlety in paintings such as Jim Crow, Irony of the Negro Policeman and Per Capita. In honoring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole and others, Basquiat drew a connection between an artistic iconography which he admired, and of which he himself eventually became a part." A Review of Basquiat: A Slam Dance on Canvas, CAmille Collins. Source
link here.

"When MTV started, there were so few music videos that the network scrambled for content. Many early videos came pouring out of Britain — from acts such as Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, ABC, Joe Jackson and the Police — in a parade the early MTV executive Bob Pittman refers to here as “the second British Invasion.” Source link here.

Source is MTV Press. Link here.



Bansky

Source for above image is here.

1864 Lincoln campaign token.