Say What You See!

This weekend saw my first visit back home to Shakespeare’s county since I first came to university. On the journey back I couldn’t help but notice the road signs all around me, specifically the brown and white tourist information signs. This got me thinking about semiotics, the study of signs and symbols of which we had an extensive lecture two days earlier. Now there are of course many instantly recognisable symbols where the object is clearly pictured, such as an elephant to represent a zoo which is fairly iconic, but also the symbol of ‘i’ is instantly recognisable by most people as an indication of ‘information’ even though this symbol is rather arbitrary. However I came across some signs that had me stumped. I did not possess any prior knowledge of these symbols or their connotations, nor could decipher what they were on a purely denotative level. The first one looked like a cross between a piece of a patchwork quilt and a jigsaw puzzle piece, which I later found out was actually an indication of an ancient monument in the care of English Heritage. Though stranger than this was what I could only interpret as an image of three people doing the dance to “Y.M.C.A”. After much painstaking research I have found out that the symbol is supposed to represent either parks and gardens or natural attractions. I am still yet to find out whether the symbol is supposed to be representative of perhaps an orchard or maybe a family of three rejoicing at the beauty of a nearby natural attraction.

Jan the Man

Just like Alice I am about to embark upon a topsy-turvy journey of wonderment and curiosity, with a dash of insanity thrown into the mix. To start I am going to revisit a film I first saw several years ago by a Czech director called Jan Svankmajer, who is renowned for his surreal animations. This film called “Alice” (1988) is based on Lewis Carrolls book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (1865) and combines Stop-motion animation with live action. Whilst not crossing the line into horror, the visuals often appear grotesque and disturbing, making it a very strange cinematic experience. The boundaries are often blurred between the real and the imaginary as inanimate household objects come to life and behave in ways you wouldn’t expect. The strong recurrence of skulls and scissors coupled with the eerie narration of the story by Alice herself makes this a risky choice for my bed time viewing, as my dreams will no doubt be occupied by Czechoslovakian surrealist style nightmares.