How does meaning get into image?

1.Can you make sense of these dots?

Don't treat!

Ok well, these symbols are written in Braille.
In order to decode them you have to know that
each set of dots represents a letter, which,
in turn makes up a word. In this case the word is 'blind'.

2.What does this symbol mean?

The symbol on the last page looks like the Nazi swastika. In fact it is an Indian swastika. In hinduism and Buddhism the Swastika stands for good luck. With the Indian swastika the 'L' shape is inverted, unlike its Nazi counterpart.

3.If you add a square to a circle

,do you get a square circle?

If something is not literally possible we say that it is impossible. But things can be impossible in different ways. A square circle is not logically possible - through that may not stop us trying to imagine one. The key is to know what is literally possible sets a limit for us.

LET'S DO A QUIZ!

4.What does this drawing represent?

It looks a bit like a drawing of a hat. Does the drawing only represent a hat, though, or does the hat in turn represent something else? And how can we tell? Actually this is a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. The elephant is inside the boa constrictor so you can't see him.

The image is taken from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's children's book 'The little Prince. the grown-ups always have to have everything explained, whereas children, who often have better insight into such things.

5.Which shape is different from the rest?

There is actually no real reason for thinking one shape is different from the rest. It is only a matter of how we choose to perceive these shapes that may make us say that one is different from the others. Spotting difference is sometime easy, but at other times it is more difficult.

6.Do these traffic lights make sense?

What these lights mean can seem obvious if you are already familiar with them. Their meanings, though, depend on a number of underlying assumptions.

Signifiers: Red Yellow Green
Signifieds: Stop Caution Go

We understand the meaning that each coloured light has in the culture that employ this system.

7.Which three items are most alike?

The answer depends on what interests you. We could pick three that are alike in form, three that are alike in size or three that are alike in colour.

When we liken one thing to another we tend to highlight the features that interest us, and we ignore those that don't interest us.

8.What do you think they are drinking?

In asking about 'the man drinking champagne' it is easy to give the impression that we are referring to someone in a straightforward way. But perhaps that we think is the man drinking the champagne is, in fact, a woman. In this case may be no person is drinking champagne.

Reference is intriguing because you can refer to the same person or object in different ways.

why do you notice about the man drinking champagne?

9.Can you do this?

Cross through all nine dots using only four straight
lines without lifting your pen from the paper?

The nine-dot problem is often used to illustrate how our thinking can get stuck. This happens because the tendency is to think within the box shape that the nine dots seem to create. However when you step outside the constraint a solution suggests itself.

Once the solution has been seen the tendency is to stop searching for alternatives.

10. What would you do?

There is a Zen Buddhist story that begins with a
question:

'WHAT SHOULD
YOU DO IF YOU
SEE BUDDHA
ON THE ROAD?'

The answer is that you should kill him, because Zen Buddhism is about the inner life. This response is shocking and surprising. It is memorable. But it is also puzzling, and so requires an explanation.

Zen is a form of religious teaching through stories,
which are supposed to give insight into the human condition and what makes it valuable.

Why these are important to Processing?

My essay topic is all about how meaning get into image. I thought this would be an interesting way to demonstrate the conceptual images with little discussion here. Through looking at those images, it might makes people think about the meaning of it but not just ignore them.

For Processing, those images are designed with simple shapes and lines, but very well controlled. It is exactly the things for processing, to create shapes with exact direction on screen.

'This Means This, This Means That'

Resources referenced by Sean Hall.

All the images redrawn by myself.