Feminist Semiotics By Jess Pickering

09/12/24 @CalArts

'Feminist Semiotics' is a challenge to representation. It questions existing systems that enforce the patriarchy, by using semiotics as a vehicle for opposition.

The installation is formed by text from statements collected in response to the question: what do you know or feel about the commodification of female bodies, and has this ever led to you being objectified?

The collective experiences are appropriated into Saussure's diagram of signification, as language isn't arbitrary but a social construct that underpins the disenfranchisement of gender marginalized communities.

The intention is to tackle the constant question of how we work with and against an existing system that determines our portrayal and perception, without reinforcing the patriarchy.

Footage by: Audrey Tucker

Featuring: Ginger Hobbs and Sheang-li Pung