Semiotics

Sign = Signifier + Signified

I researched Semiotics and the definition in the Dictionary says that it is “the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation”. It’s a Greek word for “observing of signs”.

I also scroll through Wikipedia, although I know it’s said that it isn’t a reliable source. I came across a few names that study semiotics, I believe they’re called semioticians. Umberto Eco was the first one. He suggests that every cultural phenomenon may be studied as communication.

The other name was Ferdinand de Saussure, he was a Swiss semiotician. He was one of two major founders of semiology. He believed that “the relationship that exists between the signifier and the signifier is purely arbitrary and analytical”. 

Consider the sign of a crop circle photograph

The crop circle is a pattern creating by flattening the crop. They first came about in 1966 when a farmer claimed to have seen a “flying saucer” rise from his land. The ‘signifier’ is the patterns within the crop circle. The ‘signified’ is the power they have over our mind, making us question if its extra-terrestrial.

PLACE – Room Three: Fantastic

Most crop circle researchers – or cerealogists – believe the patterns to be produced by extra-terrestrial or paranormal forces, a belief no doubt suggested by the fact that most of the major patterns are found in Wiltshire, traditionally the home of English paganism and New Age mythology, and the site of numerous ancient earthworks such as Silbury Hill and Stonehenge, as well as the Alton Barnes White Horse, cut into a hillside.

Dean and Millar, 2005 , pg. 80