Fun With Semiotics

graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm
original source: 'Daily Mirror' 07/08/08

The primary motivation behind the transcription of this original newspaper photograph was not, as more usual, its connection to the work of other artists & art history, & the opportunity thus afforded to reference such, but rather the fascinating example it provides of the semiotics of media images.

The subject has been an ubiquitous presence in the print media over the course of the summer, where a non-story concerning his professional intentions & aspects of his personal life has played out daily, unavoidably, encroaching upon the general popular culture from outside its particular context. Finally (?), some form of resolution - or perhaps point of exhaustion - appears to have been reached, as presented here in its original form:


'Daily Mirror' 07/08/08

Given the volume of the available image stock of the protagonist, the particular choice seems telling, especially as presented in juxtaposition with a group of smiling team-mates. Our hero, rather, appears with his face - generally, one understands, regarded as being handsome in nature - contorted in fury, neck veins bulging, confrontational in aspect, an unnattractive subversion of his image (as mediated): implying, perhaps, an oppositional reaction & attitude to the unsatisfactory compromise 'mutually-agreed' with his employer, his ambitions to experience pastures & challenges new - & greater riches yet - thwarted in denial of his desires, his dreams, at least as endlessly reported.

Or perhaps the picture tells another story, as postulated here: that of the newspaper's revenge upon the personage in question for the exposure of their non-story for what it was, perhaps all along.

Whatever, it's all good, thought-provoking stuff. Interestingly, this would not be the first time this character has been (re)presented as a pantomime villain in the media, as originally occurred two summers ago, there thus being a history already...