From the semiotíc image to discursivity : the time of a photo

Because its aim was to become a discipline englobing all systems of signs, instead of a particular approach examining the production of meaning within phenomena studied by different social sciences, French semiology decided to build a semiology of the image. This project was a failure. Hence the historical importance of the semiology of cinema, defined as the investigation of a specific medium and not of images in general. The case of photography and its history since the middle of the 19th century is a good example to illustrate the evolution of social and cultural uses of a technical support. Roland Barthes' intuition in "La chambre Claire" about the relation of photography to the development of individualism, allows us to sketch the foundations of a semiotic approach concerned with the complex functioning of social discourses, as opposed to a semiology that tries to make a kind of significant matter (image) the so-called object of an immanent analysis.De par sa volonté de devenir une discipline s'appropriant tous les systèmes de signes plutôt qu'une démarche particulière problématisant la production de sens au coeur de phénomènes dont s'occupent diverses sciences sociales, la sémiologie française se donna d'abord comme tâche la construction d'une sémiologie de /'image. Ce projet a échoué. D'où l'importance historique de la sémiologie du cinéma, qui s'est définie comme une recherche portant sur un média spécifique, et non pas sur l'image en général. Le cas de la photographie et de son histoire depuis le milieu du XIXe siècle est exemplaire pour illustrer l'évolution des usages d'un support technique travaillé par la société et la culture. L'intuition contenue dans La chambre claire, de Roland Barthes, sur la relation de la photographie avec le développement de l'individualisme, permet d'esquisser les fondements d'une démarche sémiotique, concernée par la complexité du fonctionnement des discours sociaux, par opposition à une sémiologie érigeant une matière signifiante (l'image) en prétendu objet d'une analyse immanente

Playing Games with Tito:Designing Hybrid Museum Experiences for Critical Play

This article brings together two distinct, but related perspectives on playful museum experiences: Critical play and hybrid design. The article explores the challenges involved in combining these two perspectives, through the design of two hybrid museum experiences that aimed to facilitate critical play with/in the collections of the Museum of Yugoslavia and the highly contested heritage they represent. Based on reflections from the design process as well as feedback from test users, we describe a series of challenges: Challenging the norms of visitor behaviour, challenging the role of the artefact, and challenging the curatorial authority. In conclusion, we outline some possible design strategies to address these challenges