Cultural Semiotics

Back in January we had a lecture by Matt Hawthorn looking at amongst other things Semiotics and Culture. The main point I want to talk about that I got from what Matt had to say was the idea of Semiotics and how culture plays its part within the area of semiotics.

Matt defined semiotics as ‘How the world can be viewed’ or ‘How we get meaning from it’.
One definition of Culture is ‘the behaviours and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethical or age group’ (dictionary.com)

By viewing semiotics through the use of culture I want to answer the question ‘In my work, can nature be taken too far in abstract design for fantasy purposes, so that it no longer becomes believable?'

In Semiotics there are two parts:  a Signifier and a Signified.
The Signifier is what the ‘thing’ is- so is it an aesthetic piece of art, an experience, an object etc.
The Signified is the meaning of the ‘thing’.

To get from the Signifier to the Signified the viewer must go through a process. My argument is that everyone belongs to some sort of culture, whether that be ethical, age, social, fashion, film, beliefs etc. Therefore everyone can identify something using their cultural experiences- the results may be different but the core semiotic of culture is the same.

For example:

Person A and B look at the signifier, whether that be some art, an object, an event etc They then both form some sort of conclusion or Signified result by using Cultural Semiotics.

Person A may use their past experience of Structure to form a conclusion, whereas Person B may use Politics and come out with a completely different answer; however, by both using their experience of culture, either the same or different, they have gained an experience of the object, and as everyone is part of some sort of culture, everyone can experience something and gain some sort of meaning from it.

Therefore looking back at my original question; ‘In my work, can nature be taken too far in abstract design for fantasy purposes, so that it no longer becomes believable?’ my answer would be no it cannot. Each person throughout their life gains different experiences yet all experience in some way a form of culture. So if I design something nature related each person could view it through the eyes of their culture and from that past experience form some meaning personal to themselves, therefore them accepting it as something.

As long as the design can link with one of the above cultural elements, and as everyone can relate in some way to a type of culture, it would suggest that on some level it can always be believable.

Based on the lecture by Matt Hawthorn, January 23^rd 2012, Poetics of Research Practice