Chapter 7 Materiality and meaning

In the beginning part of this chapter, it talks about the roles of production technologies in the development of the relations between "representation and reference." (218) There are three main technologies--technologies of the hand, recording technologies and synthesizing technologies. As technology evolves, human acquires more and more positive abilities in modifying and manipulating signifiers.

Moreover, we can establish "new semiotic means, new signs, new texts, new images, new visions, new worlds," (218) which can be used to build up new representations, with less reference to reality.

However, the ability granted by synthesizing technologies leaves another potential problem to the reliability of representation. For example, Photoshop and other image editing software enable us modify photos, and we need to think about whether an image is real before we need it in news reports and other genres require naturalness and reality. But back to the age of photographing, it is safe to carry out “seeing is believing” to news photos.

Therefore, as technologies evolve, not only the relation between representation and reference is being challenged and deconstructed, but also the criteria of truth and fake turn to be vulnerable.

Later, it talks about the role of different visual elements, such as brushstrokes, materials and colors. Whether they can be considered as “semiotic mode?” Which kinds of representational functions they serve to realize? And in which ways they can represent the signified?

Color is definitely an important element in visual communication, since human’s eyes are among the species who are most sensitive to colors. In the terms of value, saturation, purity, modulation, differentiation and hue, colors can specify and convey some certain kinds of emotion, feelings, hints and information.