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July 9, 2004
"Signifying Nothing" (Seen in Muncie, Indiana) ... An Explanation
"i suppose i could say that "Signifying Nothing" means what it says and says what it means...nothing.
but i don't think that is true
"signifying nothing" has to signify...something.
i first thought of this phrase after reading a book of essays by jean baudrillard titled: The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures. in the first essay baudrillard presents us with a city "strripped bare of all its signs with walls bare like a guiltless conscience." and then GARAP appears. this single non-sense expression is inscribed on all the walls. pure signifier without a signified, signifying itself.
Without any possible referent, GARAP is taken up and discussed, reproduced and proliferated so that its lack of referent or denotative significance is less important than its mere existence and the relations that develop. It is the relations that are consumed by the residents of the city. so "signifying nothing" i guess is kinda like that. in that way, it's a paradox. it is a sign that claims to signify nothing and yet is infused with meaning the second someone reads it. i suppose this could be said about any phrase.
for me it is about making people stop and think about what things really mean
i also found out later that it is a line from macbeth. he is speaking of life after he gets word of the queen's death
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more; it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."
i guess i was a poet and didn't know it.
-lee
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