Levels of Meaning

One of the exercises for this module asks us to look at the non literal use of visual codes that help to define the deeper meaning of an image. Metonymy for instance is useful when making images; metonymic words are familiar to audiences that share the same cultural codes. For example, 'the bottle' as a metonym for alcoholism is clearly understood by a wide audience. Metaphor takes metonymy one step further and instead of using closely associated connections between objects and words the association is much more diverse and works on a deeper level that may not be readily apparent.

In an assignment for a previous module I did use empty beer bottles to connote 'alcoholism' for an assignment about my difficult childhood. It seems that this metonym for alcohol abuse is clearly understood from a western cultural viewpoint.

For my current body of work I am using metaphor to convey more complex concepts. My 'Ediction machine' is a prop that I made to connote the idea of ideologies and regimes that have control over mass populations. The addition of the barbed wire and dead leaves in the composition is intended to convey a negative impact as a consequence of the edicts issued by the machine. The image is hard to read on its own and is obviously intended as part of a sequence and with an accompanying artist's statement to help guide the viewer to decode the image.