Sept 9

And yet a trace of the true self exists in the false self.

Kinds of Signifiers

Sept 9 Schedule for Uncreative Designing
3:00	Class Performance & Critique of new objects
4:20	Break
4:30	Semiotics Lecture & Object Sorting
5:20	Discussion of The Terrifying Beauty of Absence
6:00	Use the remaining time to make static two-dimensional representations of each of your objects.

Readings for Today:

• Alexander D'Hooghe The Terrifying Beauty of Absence
  • This might be one of the best essays I've read in my entire life.
• Byung-Chul Han 한병철 複製 Fuzhi: Copy from Shanzhai

Semiotics Lexicon:

• Signifier
• Signified

• Icon a signifier that physically resembles the thing it represents. e.g., ☎, ????
• Index a signifier with a direct link to what it represents. e.g., ☠, ⌛
• Symbol an arbitrary signifier with no resemblance or link to what it represents. The meaning of a symbol must be learned. e.g., ☮, ☣, ????

• Morpheme the smallest meaningful lexical item in a language. "Unbreakable" is composed of three morphemes: un- (a bound morpheme signifying "not"), break (the root, a free morpheme), and -able (a bound morpheme signifying "an ability to be done").

• Ideogram a written character symbolizing the idea of a thing without indicating the sounds used to say it. e.g., 42 and 果.
• Pictogram/Pictograph a pictorial symbol for a word or phrase. e.g. ????, ☺
• Logogram a sign or character representing a word or phrase, such as those used in shorthand and some writing systems. e.g. &, $, %