Identity Project

Invariably one of the most important aspects of being a human is communication. I have recently been studying semiotics, the study of signs. Language, art, traffic signs, a mark on the wall, we receive these signs then interpret their appropriate meaning given their context. With language(which I am defining as any sign made by a person to communicate a signified meaning) there is always an expected result. What if there is a breakdown? Two possible ways are: a) the resulting information the receiver has interpreted is not that which the sender intended, the receiver being at fault or b) the sender did not send an adequate signifier, which the sender is at fault. In my project I being the maker of the signifier could only use breakdown (b) to inhibit the full communication of the signified. Ultimately the signified is the breakdown and not the original signified concept.

At this point you may be asking "How does this relate to identity?" Hopefully, it is self explanatory. But just in case I will elaborate. Breakdowns of communication have been apparent to me for some time. Mostly, the cause of this being problems with the control of anxiety connected to social situations. This issue has affected nearly all of my life and continues to affect it but to a much lesser extent than previously up to this point. In a time when anxiety is at its worst the outward communication is dwelled upon but rarely expressed and when it does find its way into the world it is inherently garbled or incomplete. Comfort of one's self cannot be found in the outside world but must come from the inside or the small amount of the world in which manipulation does get repressed by factors that incite anxiety.

In the end there is no knowledge of who or why. Simply a generic card with no reason of being. Vague communications are common to me, always leaving in my mind more to be said. So much effort is put in just to say nothing.


Binary Opposition: 1, Documented construction and giving of Valentines.






Amber




Zac and Kathy




Lydia




Mom