/>“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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