http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheenachi/108311326/
This first image is one of a memorial in my town (East Brunswick, NJ) for the victims of the 9/11 tragedy, and especially those who were residents of my town. It was erected in the municipal complex in my town that houses the library, police department and senior center. It lies next to the Veterans Memorial (the flag statue in the background). It acts as an icon, a symbol and an index. First, it is an icon because the memorial is built in the shape of the Twin Towers, and has American flags on it to secure its function as an image of the towers. It is a symbol because it, in reality, is two vertical rectangular prisms, but is understood as the Twin Towers due to its association with the neighboring veterans statue, the words upon it, and the American flags. It is an index because it matters that it is in a town somewhat near New York City. If it were place in Austrailia, for example, it would mean something different, and especially because it bears the names of my town residents who died.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheenachi/3377629728/
This image is from the inside of our local Circuit City, which was doomed to close as all other Circuit City’s were after the company went bankrupt this year. This image really has two signs in it, first, the “PC Accessories” Sign, and next the sale signs underneath it. The PC accessories sign acts as an icon and index. It is an icon for the picture of a mouse, a PC Accessory. It is an index because it is located above the PC Accessories. More important to me, however, are the sale signs. They are symbols and indexes. They are symbols because they contain words, which represent arbitrary aspects of the language. Their role as an index is paramount. They are in reference to the PC accessories section, but also to the sign above them, and also indexes because of the store they are in. They also bring up the fact that they are not only indexical of the sign’s or store’s location physically, but also the status of the store, and that is, bankruptcy. While symbolizing it, it does not indicate this fact explicitly, only through indexing.
http://www.ebyouthcouncil.com/images/EBHS.gif
I apologize for the quality and size of the image, but this is a particularly interesting sign in front of my high school. Its bushes are cut to read EBHS (East Brunswick High School). It faces the road, since our high school is on a hill and not visible from the road. It is accompanied by an electronic sign that projects surrounding school events. The bush sign is a symbol and an index. It is a symbol because it represents the four arbitrary letters of the high school, but could stand for something else in a different place. It is highly indexical, because it stands in front of its namesake, and it indicates the pride of the school it stands for and for the town. During our year of graduation, some students arranged sticks under the sign to read “EBHS ’08″, indicating further pride in our graduating year. It is a unique sign because of its medium, plants, and therefore it symbolizes a regard for the school’s attempt to be “green”.
Hi Michael.
This post is outstanding. I appreciate the complexity of thought you bring to your description and analysis of these signs. The 9-11 Memorial is beautiful and as you note clearly acts as index, icon, and symbol.It is interesting to think about how this memorial might not have the same meaning or value if placed in a city further from New York or in an entirely different country. While the 9-11 tragedy clearly has national and transnational implications, the indexicality of the memorial certainly impacts the emotional effects created by its placement…
I want to encourage you not to forget about the textures and color when thinking about signs. As you note in your descriptive analysis of the EBHS sign, the plant medium impacts the meaning of the sign. How do the mediums of the memorial and the colors in the sale signs impact their meaning.
Also, do you think everyone would agree that the EBHS sign symbolizes the school’s attempt to go Green? If not, what can we learn about how a sign acquires symbolic meaning?
Great post thus far!
Thanks.
Laurie
I think the 911 memorial is interesting because it gets it meaning from both time and place. If this monument were to have been erected in 2000, it would completely lose its meaning as a memorial and would be seen more as an abstract work of art. The fact that it is also located in the next state over next to other veteran memorials is important to understanding that the names located on it are of people who actually lived in the immediate area. Like Laurie was saying, I think the colors on the Circuit City signs could be more important than what they actually say. The scale of the lettering in its bright red against the yellow is commonly used for sales, and could be easily recognized almost anywhere. Even though they are temporary, they still carry the same meaning as more permanent signs like traffic lights. The boldness of the black and white contrast of the numbers is also significant. While not everyone understands English, most people would be able to recognize the numbers and with the colors of the neighboring signs, would be able to figure out their meaning. In this way, these signs act to include as many people as possible which is vastly different from those we’ve seen in Forum B. As far as seeing the bushes as perpetuating ‘green’ ideas, I would disagree. Whenever I see bushes cut like that is it often in front of a place that has money- a rich neighborhood, high-end retail, or themepark. These outlets aren’t trying to say that they are green but that they have green. In this way they mark themselves socially and exclude those without money instead of working towards the inclusionary green movement.
I also really liked the 9/11 monument in that while being a great artistic piece, its true greatness lies in the way it symbolizes and remember those that were lost. I also think that to be located in an area with other monuments gives it more of a memorial meaning to go with its artistic meaning. With the signs in Circuit City, I agree with Lynsie in that the colors are one of the most important parts of the sign. Anything in that bright yellow and red really draws your attention right to it and immediately lets you know that there is a sale going on. Also, the use of words like “entire” and “everything” and the phrase “nothing held back” help to clue you in that the store is indeed going out of business and that with those numbers hanging in the middle, this sign pretty much guarantees that anyone with a remote interest will notice the sale and will at least check it out. Also, the smaller color coded signs on the actual shelves caught my attention as another example of how the store used color to attract and to differentiate. I also agree with Lynsie that seeing bushes shaped into initials for a school does not invoke a “green” feeling in me either, though I am not sure I agree with the exclusionary part. That is not to say your school is not green, but I just would not have inferred that from the bushes. I do like how it has become a symbol and is used to show pride for your school year with the sticks. It reminds me of a rock at a high school near me that gets a new coat of paint every year from the graduating class proudly displaying their year and other designs.
The circuit city sign is very bright and cluttered. While I see the need for a bright color to stand out against the otherwise dull background, the amount of writing seems a bit extreme. However, the main ideas that it is trying to display seem to have been enlarged and bolded out. But overall, I think that the colors play a larger part than any of the writing written on it. People might see the 50-80% off and go “oh, what’s that about?” but it’s the vibrant feeling the sign brings out that attract people and draws then near enough to read what else it has to say. As Lynsie said, not everyone is going to the English that’s written, but everyone knows what bright colors are and are going to be attracted to it even if they can’t read what it says.
As for the school name cut into the bushes, it shows that the school cares about its appearance by trimming and cleaning up the plant. It doesn’t say anything though about what the school is like, apart from its attention to detail, which is a good thing indeed.
Interesting discussion here; I really like how this group is not afraid to share their thoughts and to challenge each other to think more deeply. Keep up the good work everyone! Laurie