Art, culture, and the semiotics of meaning

by Jackson Barry

Do the arts mean? Do all the arts mean? Do they all mean in the same way? Does an art work mean in the same way that a street sign means? More importantly, do all art works mean in a semiotically interesting way? Art, Culture, and the Semiotics of Meaning argues for the importance of those formal meanings in the arts that most effectively enrich our knowledge of "the way things are" and train our cognitive faculties to deal with them. Jackson Barry examines the meaning of art works as read through their material and formal constituents using a semiotic approach that clarifies the historical and cultural forces molding these sensorially elaborated "signs."