National Art Education Association

A Semiotic Reading and Discourse Analysis of Postmodern Street Performance

Author(s): MIMI MIYOUNG LEE and SHENG KUAN CHUNG
Source: Studies in Art Education, Vol. 51, No. 1 (FALL 2009), pp. 21-35
Published by: National Art Education Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40650398
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 Copyright 2009 by the National Art Education Association
Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research
2009, 51(1), 21-35

"Apart from artists in A Semiotic Reading and

the institutionalized Discourse Analysis of Postmodern
Street Performance
art world,
MIMI MIYOUNG LEE

postmodern street SHENG KUAN CHUNG

University of Houston
artists adopt guerrilla
communication and Postmodern street art operates under a set of references that

requires art educators and researchers to adopt alternative

pubic intervention analytical frameworks in order to understand its meanings. In this
methods to article, we describe social semiotics, critical discourse analysis, and
postmodern street performance as well as the relevance of the
disseminate former two in interpreting the latter. To illustrate how the meaning

of postmodern street performance is a socially constructed fluid

their work with variable that is situated, generated, and utilized in a particular
an intention of context of discourse, we provide examples of analysis of street

performances by Berlin-based artist Aram Bartholl. Finally, by

generating public garnering insights from this discourse analysis, we offer several
conclusions. In the end, we propose the employment of social
discourse about semiotics and discourse analysis as a more reflexive way of under-
various social
standing postmodern street art practices.

practices/'
Correspondence regarding this article may be sent to the authors at the
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, 256 Farish Hall, University of
Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5027. E-mail: mlee7@uh.edu; skchung@uh.edu
The authors contributed equally to this article by rotating the authorship.

Studies in Art Education I Volume 5 1 , No. 1 2 1

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 prevalence of new-age commu- view taken from social semiotics, in which visual

nication devices such as Internet, arts is seen as a form of communication (Chaplin,

mobile phones, Blackberries, iPods, 1994), we see many recent works of postmodern
street art as relevant illustrations of how meaning
and hand-held televisions affords more
is not just given but is always socially constructed.
diverse and accessible interactions in
Social semiotics offers a new perspective on inter-
physical and virtual environments,pretingthe postmodern street art. Because of the
young generations today spend more time emphasis
than of semiotics on codes, signs, and their
previous generations receiving media-related
interactions, art educators have adopted them into
information, communicating with each other,
their research and classroom practices (jagodz-
and playing games online. They glide effortlessly
inski, 2004; Smith-Shank, 1995; Wyrick, 2004).
between the virtual and the physical world. Many
researchers and educators have begun to address
Purpose
In the postmodern arena, artists produce
this phenomenon intensively and have started to
focus on the social aspect of online gaming conceptual
and art using unconventional media,
inspired/mediated
its implications for education (Brown, 2006; Gee,
by computer technologies,
and presented through guerrilla communications
2004; Squire, 2002).
and street performances. The existing art criticism
Along these lines, art educators have also
models such as those proposed by Anderson
started paying attention to postmodern condi-
(1993), Barrett (1994), Broudy (1972), and Feldman
tions and art education with respect to innovative
(1981) are inadequate for dealing with non-insti-
uses of new technologies such as virtual reality
tutionalized postmodern art, whether circulated
(jagodzinski, 2005; Sakatani, 2005), computer art
in the streets or on the Internet. In this article, we
(Humphries, 2003), identity formation in relation
propose employing social semiotics and critical
to popular and visual culture (Gaudelius & Speirs,
discourse analysis for understanding postmodern
2002), interactive hypertext (Carpenter & Taylor,
street art. We explore the "WOW" Project by Berlin-
2006), and digital storytelling (Chung, 2007),
basedasmedia artist Aram Bartholl as an example for
well as other unconventional media in new this
plat-illustration. We conclude by garnering insights
forms (i.e., graffiti and street art). Challenging
from reading and reflecting on Bartholl's work from
the traditional notion of art as tangible objects
a semiotic perspective. As part of those efforts, we
intended mostly for the high culture, these "new"
propose the employment of social semiotics and
forms of art encourage discussions regarding the analysis as more reflexive ways of under-
discourse
philosophy of art, contemporary technovisualstanding postmodern street art practices.
culture, and the development of multiliteracy (see
We define postmodern street art and, in
Duncum, 2004). particular, street performances. We then offer
In this era of multimodal representations, it several
is of select educational implications of this
crucial importance that we prepare students andof communication and representation. The
form
teachers to be able to understand and examine section will be followed by discussions on social
the various modes of representation and the
semiotics and critical discourse analysis and how
they can be used to serve as a helpful analytical
processes of their social construction. With the

22 Lee and Chung / Postmodern Street Performance

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framework for understanding postmodern street
performance. After that, we use Bartholl's works to
illustrate an actual application of these methods
and present our associated analyses.
Postmodern Street Performance
which society has become saturated with gender
Postmodern street performance has its roots
stereotypes, influencing male and female role
in the activist and feminist art movement of the
1 960s. Apart from artists in the institutionalized art
world, postmodern street artists adopt guerrilla
nation, feminist artists use urban streets to reach
communication and pubic intervention methods a mass audience. Feminist artists such as Suzanne
to disseminate their work with an intention of
Lacy, Leslie Labowitz, Barbara Kruger, and the
generating public discourse about various social
practices.
To reach this goal, many have performed
conceptual pieces on controversial issues in urban
city streets that aim to enlighten, shock, and
sometimes confuse the audience. For example,
a performance by David Hammons showed him
standing on a snowy street corner in New York City
selling snowballs, which, in effect, made a highly
public and somewhat amusing statement about
art as commodity (Firrincili, 2006). As another
example, artist Tania Bruguera challenged the
issues of violence, censorship, and human resil-
ience by performing half-naked, wearing only a
lamb carcass and herding a flock of sheep through
the streets of Ghent, Belgium (Bayliss, 2004).
Hammons and Bruguera are not alone in their
efforts in challenging established art institutions
and preconceptions through their innovative
thinking, humor, and alternative expressions. For
instance, African American artist William Pope.L
is notorious for challenging racial stereotypes. In
fact, his series of provocative and disturbing street
performances have often ended in his arrest. In
a 1997 performance, Pope.L stood half-naked on
a New York City street. He clothed himself with a
skirt made of dollar bills and chained himself with
sausage links to the door of a New York City bank.
Instead of begging for money from the pedes-
trians as a typical New York City panhandler would
in front of the bank, Pope.L encouraged people to
strip away his dollar bills (Pollack, 2003).
Militancy against the historic exclusion of
women from politics, science, medicine, history,
and art and the traditional subjugation of women,
still common in many cultures, underlies the
feminist art movement that criticizes the ways in
developments. To disseminate these messages
about sex/gender-based prejudice or discrimi-
Guerrilla Girls are keenly aware of how the modern
society is structured to fulfill certain functions and
the forms and types of problems that result from
such structure.
These artists have used a variety of aesthetic
media to tackle issues and concerns relating to
gender inequity. For these artists, the everyday
personal experience is political and should be
subject to public discourse. One of the feminist
aesthetic strategies, according to Lucy Lippard, is to
include "collaboration, dialogue, a constant ques-
tioning of aesthetic and social assumptions, and
a new respect for audience" (qtd. in Felshin, 1995,
p. 18). Other feminist artists attempt to push the
common notion of gender much further, "beyond
the dialectic between beauty and the beast and
beyond the schism between nature and culture.
Gender itself ... [has been] suddenly unhinged
from any loaded definitions and distinctions
between men and women" (Hess, 1995, p. 327).
Like feminist art, activist art is also a branch
of the conceptual art movement originating in
the late 1960s and early 1970s (Felshin, 1995).
According to the art historian Nina Felshin (1995),
activist art, whatever its forms or methods are, is
process-oriented. Activist art no longer caters
to the needs of the art world and its institu-
tions (or the art elites). Activist artists, instead,
make ephemeral pieces in multimedia at public
sites to initiate a civic dialogue about issues that
have a direct impact on people's lives. To get its
messages out to a much larger audience, activist

Studies in Art Education I Volume 51, No. 1 23

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 artists utilize "such mainstream media techniques are expert at, what you do every day. The
as the use of billboards, wheat-pasted posters, touch, the hand of the artist and the hand
subway and bus advertising, and news inserts to of the sanman [sic]. I want to make a chain
deliver messages that subvert the usual intentions of hands ... A hand-chain to hold up the
of these commercial forms" (Felshin, 1995, p. 10). whole City. (qtd. in Phillips, 1 995, p.1 83)
Indicative of these efforts for sizable exposure, In her series of maintenance art, Ukeles
urban streets are the key avenue for postmodern manifested the work of sanitation workers as an
street artists to engage in the political discourse aesthetic endeavor that should be known and
that urges for changes. publicly appreciated. Importantly, through such
Such postmodern street art and activist art can creative expressions and performances, she was
be seen in a series of well-known street perfor- able to exert influence on the issues of urban
mances by Mierle Laderman Ukeles, exemplifying ecology while simultaneously publicizing her
her concern with sanitation and landfill issues efforts in New York to the cities around the world
in New York City (Phillips, 1995). Ukeles and thevia her noteworthy photography exhibitions.
New York sanitation workers worked together to
In order to create art that effectively addresses
motivate city residents to improve and care for
contemporary social issues, a number of street
their environment. As part of her performance,
performances have employed in their creations
Ukeles dressed up as a street cleaning lady in
postmodernist concepts such as mini-narratives,
SoHo, a neighborhood known as a gathering spot
contingency, pluralism, fragmentation, decen-
for the city's art elite, whose streets are notorious
tralization, irrationality, depthlessness, hyper-
for their filth and litter. During her performance,
reality, hybridization, pastiche, and kitsch. In an
nearby shop owners offered her old clothes and
attempt to synthesize such a movement, Clark
rags to scrub down the streets and sidewalks. After
(1998) described the prototype of a postmodern
about an hour, some bystanders joined her in the
artist as "a collagist who relies on allegories, meta-
cleanup effort. Phillips (1995) described Ukeles'
phors, and narrative elements to create art that
aesthetic intention as follows:
essentially parodies contemporary culture" (p. 9).
For Ukeles, public art must stimulate and
In addition, Efland, Freedman, and Stuhr (1996)
sustain a civic dialogue. The immensity
noted that "postmodern artists are often inter-
and urgency of the issues that she
ested in surface, juxtaposition, and illusion" (p. 29).
engages (city viability, active citizenship,
As ironic and parodie as their work may appear,
environmental awareness) demonstrate
a large number of postmodern artists are deter-
that, for her, contemporary activism means
mined to make their work accessible to a broad
a comprehensive, compassionate response
range of viewers in their intention to disseminate
to a complex, multivalent world, (p. 1 68)
their political messages. Their ultimate goal is to
Another important piece of Ukeles' perfor-
"encourage viewers to question individual and
mance was shaking 5,000 sanitation workers'
collective assumptions, beliefs, and practices and
hands. Ukeles explains, in her own words, the
take action to bring about positive and healthy
significance of shaking hands with New York City
conditions of social change" (Krug, 2002, p.1 88).
sanitation workers:

I've talked a lot about 'hands,' to 'handle' Why Social Semiotics?

waste, 'handling' the pressures and As Rose (2001) pointed out, anything that has
difficulties of the job, and finally - about meaning "can be understood in terms of signs and
'shaking, shaking, shaking hands.This is the work they do" (p.74). In light of the meaning of
an artwork about hand-energy. What you street performance that is derived from the corre-

24 Lee and Chung / Postmodern Street Performance

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Figure 1 . A screen shot of World of Warcraft. Photo used with permission from
Aram Bartholl's website at http://www.datenform.de/

sponding public discourse and its social context,
we suggest employing the framework of social
semiotics and critical discourse analysis to better
understand postmodern street performances. The
very goal of these postmodern street performers
in reconceptualizing the meaning of art through
direct interaction with the audience provides a
sound justification for employment of social semi-
otics as our analytical lens. In the section below,
Semiotics in art education is nothing new
(jagodzinski, 2004; Smith-Shank, 1995). When
we consider artmaking as a way of making
signs, symbols, and icons, understanding of its
products and creative processes can be achieved
by employing semiotics. Educators such as Jeffers
(2000) proposed using semiotics to provide a
comprehensive art program in order to combine
the formalist and contextualist aesthetic theories.

we will first provide a brief description of social The language and perspective of semiotics
semiotics and critical discourse analysis. Next, we provides insights to art education as it empha-
explain our application in interpreting a street sizes "the deployments of the specific ways the
performance by Aram Bartholl. meanings of an image are produced through

Studies in Art Education I Volume 5 1 , No. 1 25

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 ä^EEHB

Figures 2 and 3. Aram Bartholl's WOW Project

26 Lee and Chung / Postmodern Street Performance

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that particular image thus focusing on the social
effects of meaning" (Rose, 2001 , p. 70).
It is important to specify here that we are inter-
ested in "social" semiotics to distinguish it from the
traditional (Saussurean) semiotics. According to
Jewitt and Oyama (2001), Saussurean semiotics
focuses on 'code' as a set of rules for connecting
signs and meanings. The source (or resources)
of the codes and the actual use (realization) of
the rules, however, were not the main focus of
the Saussurean semioticians. On the other hand,
social semioticians, influenced by Charles Peirce,
are interested in how different kinds of rules are
applied and utilized in different contexts. The
use of social semiotics provides "a method that
can help [the viewers] penetrate the apparent
autonomy and reality of adverts, in order to reveal
their ideological status" and show how meanings
change and are changed in use (Rose, 2001,
p. 71). Such a perspective takes as a given that
every system of signs is the product of semiotic
processes that documents the history of its own
constitution (Hodge & Kress, 1988). Referencing
Ebert's (1991) notion of resistance postmod-
ernism, a sign is always an arena where material
conflicts and competing social relationships occur
(Kincheloe & McLaren, 2000). In effect, we should
rethink a signifier as an ideological dynamic that
is always related to a contextually afforded set of
signifieds.
Using social semiotics, a key question in under-
standing postmodern street art relates to how
people use aesthetic modes and media in actual,
concrete, interactive instances of communicative
practices. Although the notion of semiotics initially
focused on the mode of verbal language system,
advancements in technology have expanded the
parameter of this discipline to the various multi-
modal texts. Kress and van Leewen (2001) empha-
sized "a view of multimodality in which common
semiotic principles operate in and across different
modes, and in which it is therefore quite possible
for music to encode action, or images to encode
emotion" (p. 2). Multimodality is made possible
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by the process of digitization wherein one might
ask questions such as, 'Shall I say this visually or
verbally?'which beg still other questions that focus
more on "the semiotic rather than the technical
element, the question of how this technical possi-
bility can be made to work semiotically" (Kress &
van Leewen, 2001, p. 2). Clearly, social semiotics
is not an end in itself but a tool for use in critical
research.
Critical Discourse Analysis
Discourse analysis adds another level to social
semiotics because it is possible to study the
sign relations within (discourse semantics) and
between (intertextuality) linguistic texts in great
detail (Lemke, 1998). Jensen (2002) define the
term discourse as follows:
[A] knowledge which is (1) a knowledge
of practices, of how things are or must be
done . . . together with specific evaluations
and legitimations of and purposes for these
practices (2) a knowledge which is linked
to and activated in the context of specific
communicative practices. This means
that people may at different times draw
on different discourses about the same
practice or practices, choosing the one they
see as most adequate to their own interests
in the given context, (p. 1 14)
Others define discourse more succinctly. For
instance, Hodge and Kress (1 988) refer to discourse
as "the site where social forms of organization
engage with systems of signs in the production
of texts, thus reproducing or changing the sets
of meanings and values which make up a culture"
(p. 6). 'Discourse' is used in a general sense for
language (as well as, for instance, visual imagery)
as an element of social life which is dialectically
related to other elements. Different discourses
are different ways of representing aspects of the
world. Referencing Raymond Williams (1997),
Fairclough (2003) points out that critical discourse
analysis is based upon a view of semiosis as an
irreducible element of all material social processes.
Studies in Art Education I Volume 51 , No. 1 27
 Critical discourse analysis, therefore, focuses on to art institutions, enjoyed mostly by an elite few
the dialectical relationships between discourse who could afford time, money, and, in most cases,
and other elements of social practices. education and experience needed for the full
Fairclough (2003) talks about three ways that appreciation of art. Postmodern street artists and
discourse figures in social practices: (1) as a part of their works, however, suggest and operate under
the social activity within a practice, (2) in represen- a different framework of references. They provide
tation, and (3) in the constitution of identities. We us with a flexible and democratic way of looking at,
are interested in the second aspect, the discourse's defining, and interpreting art. The artists commu-
configuration in representation, which is a process nicate through images and performances; it is, thus,
of social construction of practice. Representation important to understand the kind of discourse in
includes self-construction where representations which these artists engage.
enter and shape social processes and practices As mentioned in the previous section of this
(Fairclough, 2003). In other words, we are inter- article, postmodern street artists seek to challenge
ested in how discourse as a particular form of the traditional notion of art as high, original, and
language manifests the workings of its own rules static products created mainly for the consumption
and conventions in its production and circulation. of the privileged few. They do so by shaking the
Citing Nead's (1988) work, Rose (2001) points "readers"out of their comfort zones and by encour-
out that art, as a specialized form of knowledge, aging them to expand their horizon about their
should also be considered discourse. In the insti- conceptions of art and life. This is similar to Bertolt
tutionalized artworld, 'art' becomes "not a certainBrecht's notion of 'Verfremdungseffekt," which
kind of visual images but the knowledges, insti-can be roughly translated as "alienation-effect" or
tutions, subjects and practices which work to"distantation-effect." It is a dramatic effect aimed
define certain images as art and others not as art"at encouraging an attitude of crucial detachment
(Rose, 2001, p.1 36). Postmodern discourse theory in the audience instead of passive submission to
regards all social phenomena as being structuredrealistic illusion (Baldick, 2004). It is assuming the
semiotically by rules and codes (Schwandt, 2001). object of which one is to be made aware, to which
In other words, meaning is never jusf'given" but is one's attention is to be drawn, from something
always socially constructed. In this sense, under- ordinary, familiar, immediately accessible, into
standing art means interpreting the discourse something particular, striking and unexpected"
within which the work is situated, with the under-
(Brecht & Willett, 2001, p.1 43). In this sense, the
standing of intertexuality as "the way that the
Brechtian audience was encouraged to remain
meanings of any one discursive image or textconscious of the distance between the actors and
depend not only on that one text or image, but
the characters they present.
also on the meanings carried by other images
and texts" (Rose, 2001, p.1 36). Cultural studiesThe Discourse of Street Performance
also have taught us to look closely at the rela- by Aram Bartholl
tionship of cultural production, interpretation, Although Bartholl's art may not be seen as an
and consumption to social processes and institu-example for strong social activism, both activist
tions (Jensen, 2002). street art and Bartholl's work are rooted in the

The working of discourse "disciplines subjects same postmodern street art culture and mentality
into certain ways of thinking and acting" (Rose,in that they use creative methods and strategies
2001 , p.1 37). In the traditional discourse of art andsuch as guerrilla communications, public distur-
art criticism, we the subjects have been disciplinedbance, and street performance to raise important
to think of art as aesthetic constructs belonging issues pertaining to contemporary life and partic-

28 Lee and Chung / Postmodern Street Performance

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¡pate in street politics that engages the public in
critical discourses. Like activist street art, Bartholl's
work serves to problematize our ta ken-for-g ranted
experiences and to confront, disturb, challenge,
and enlighten the public about our everyday
living conditions.
In his book, Performing Pedagogy: Toward an Art
of Politics, Garoian (1999) poses questions about
the definition of performance art, its function as
pedagogy, and its implications for teaching in
the visual arts classroom. Garoian points out that
the genre of performance art in recent times
has become a choice for artists of marginalized
cultures as an useful strategy to "aestheticize issues
surrounding ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender,
race, and class distinctions" (pp. 18-1 9). The perfor-
mance artists have questioned the assumptions
of traditional art and culture and provided oppor-
tunities for critical thinking. Performance art has
"enabled artists to critique traditional aesthetics,
to challenge and blur the boundaries that exist
between the arts and other disciplines and those
that separate art and life" (Garoian, 1999, p.19).
Referring to the earlier works of Jameson (1984),
Foster (1 985), and Auslander (1 992), Garoian argues
that the repositioning of the body in postmodern
culture is the pedagogical function of perfor-
mance art. In this sense, Bartholl's work shows an
example of appropriation where artists manip-
ulate language and context which in turn makes
rearrangements of the schema within which our
experiences and interpretations are organized.1
Through a series of street performances that
question how the digital data embody themselves
in our everyday life or transform themselves from
cyberspace into physical space, Bartholl's art poses
the question: 'How do digital innovations control
our everyday interactions?' Inspired by a popular
online computer game called World of Warcraft
(WOW), Bartholl transforms the cyberspace game
environment into the reality world in his series of
street performances titled "The WOW Project." In
the online environment of the game WOW, each
player is able to create a virtual character with a
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chosen outfit, race, and capabilities. The WOW
game player gives the character a nickname, which
is then displayed on a uniform sign constantly
floating above the player's head to show other
players that person's identity (see Figure 1).
In this game environment, each virtual char-
acter represents a sign, a signifier, and an ideo-
logical dynamic. The meanings of the character/
sign can be varied through its endless interpré-
tants (produced by the relationship between
the sign and its representation) generated by the
players unless the players share a social knowledge
community in which the certain signifieds would
allow them to successfully identify the role, gender,
and capability of the character based on prevailing
visual characteristics. The role of the character
created by one player would make sense to other
players only within the social context shared by
the game players.
Bartholl's WOW project appropriates game
scenes from the virtual environment of the
game, World of Warcraft, and transforms them
into a series of street performances that features
common people (volunteers) doing their routine
activities such as shopping in a store, getting a
cup of coffee at a deli, or talking on a cell phone
on the street. As each performer goes on with his/
her activities walking around in the street, another
person follows right behind the performer, holding
a signage of the performer's name so that it looks
as if floating above his/her head. This makes a site/
sight of reality life look like a virtual game (see
Figure 2).
Such recontexutalizing of the virtual game envi-
ronment into the physical world quickly generates
a series of interesting and thought-provoking
questions to ponder; e.g., What is reality? What
is the function of art? When is one an artist? Can
humans unknowingly become art? Does the
street art refer to the game or does the game
refer to the street art? How are the meanings from
this art experienced differently by gamers and
non-gamers? Bartholl's series of highly innovative
and expressive street performances are signs in
Studies in Art Education I Volume 51 , No. 1 29
 full operation, namely semiosis. Because many
variables (i.e., signifieds generated by the viewer)
come into play during semiosis, Bartholl's work
(or any postmodern street performance) is likely
to evoke meanings and interpretations vastly
different from more common, familiar interpreta-
tions. Therefore, the bystander (audience) may
understand, misunderstand, or be confused by
his street performances since meanings are recon-
structed by the social context in the vernacular of
the viewer.
Semiotically, Bartholl's street performances can
only be fully understood by the viewers whose
gaming knowledge is linked to and activated
in the context of Bartholl's street performance.
Although each interpretation will be unique,
gaming savvy viewers have experienced or are
familiar with the virtual gaming and know the
rules and codes associated with the game. Some
street viewers, while familiar with the virtual
gaming procedures, codes, and signifiers of WOW,
may still be confused with Bartholl's performance
partly because the virtual context has been
replaced with the physical context. In the WOW
cyberspace, game players are used to this type
of signage floating above each character's head,
which is also necessary for all players to engage
proper social interactions. However, it is not so on
the city streets of the physical world. Consequently,
as the virtual merges into the physical, any acts,
street performers, in effect, attempt to develop
visual discourses that challenge our conventional
notion of separation between the world of "reality"
and the "virtual" and draw to light the mergence
or interconnectedness of the two worlds and the
extent to which the both environments influence
our perception of reality.
In one performance of Bartholl's WOW Project
(see Figure 3), Djino Claeys, the person, is the
signified and "Djino Claeys," the name on the sign,
is the signifier. There is nothing inherent about
why Djino should be called "Djino.'The relationship
between the signified and the signifier is arbitrary.
And in this work, the arbitrariness of the rela-
tionship is explicitly manifested by the actual sign
of his name above his head. It can be concluded
that there are several layers of meaning in the
reading of this performance. The fact that people
are not what they are called is expressed explicitly
through the distance between Djino Claeys the
person and "Djino Claeys" the sign. The name itself
serves the function of appellation - it exists so
another person can refer to him as Djino. The fact
that the location of the name (as a display) is stra-
tegically placed so as to be seen by others while
much less accessible to the subject (since it is
above his head) also points to the name's function
asan appellation.
Because Bartholl's work operates within the

however routine virtually, may disorient even the discourse of game world and cyberspace, only
most dedicated WOW players who are, albeit for the audience who is familiar with the game (and

a moment, metaphorically reliving the virtual its signage system) can fully understand the
game environment in their everyday lives. As this various levels of communication implicit in this
occurs, Bartholl's street performances force such performance. Such forms of street art commu-
viewers to re-perceive their taken-for-granted nication are clearly intended for audiences who
sense of reality. The WOW project makes unfa- understand the discourses of games and virtual
miliar the common notion of what we consider or cyber worlds as well as their associated symbol
the reality as well as the virtual by creatingsystems.
a Like viewers of institutionalized art who
semiotic space where these two merge. Barthollneed theory and knowledge of art in order to
and his colleagues brilliantly take the symbols fully
out participate in art discourse, one may have
trouble taking part in the construction and the
of original online game environments and recon-
textualize them into the "physical," face-to-face
consumption of Bartholl's work if one is unfamiliar
context, thereby defamiliarizing the objects. Such
with signs used in the virtual gaming. Therefore, it

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may be difficult and perhaps frustrating for some
to attempt to understand Bartholl's art.
As we become more wired and technology-
dependent in various aspects of our lives, the
boundary between the real and virtual is continu-
(for "Find business" locations) and places it on an
actual street. In stretching into still other media for
his artistic expressions, he later posted his project
on YouTube, which displayed the making of this
innovative street art as well as the reaction of the

ously being crossed over and blurred by myriad
new technologies. Jean Baudrillard (1988) stipu-
lates that it is virtually impossible to distinguish
the real from the imaginary in the electronic
media-saturated arena. Baudrillard argues that
the postmodern culture we are living in contains
signs that have been equated with realities. The
confusion over signs versus realities signals the
end of authenticity and the emergence of hyper-
reality. In the current age of information tech-
nology, Baudrillard views the postmodern world
as filled with simulations of realities transmitted
through the mass media and virtual technology.
In effect, a virtual sign or an image no longer
serves as a representation of an object because
it replaces the thing it represents, and eventually
possesses more power than the object itself. The
sign, therefore, takes on an extra-reality, which
Baudrillard defines as "hyperreality." He argues that
what people believe to be real is actually a simu-
people passing by. The project is also an example
of the intentional disruption between the "real/
physical" and the virtual. In Google Maps, the
symbol acts as a referent for locating the particular
business location (e.g., Pizza Hut, Office Max, etc.)
similar to the store signs on real world city streets.
This is highly interesting as well as significant since
the very symbol used in a Google Map is a way
of referring to the "real" physical world. In contrast
to his artistic expressions in the WOW project
where the virtual maps were laid over to the real
world, the virtual symbols in this project stand
in as secondary referents to those in the "real"
world. At the same time, the symbol serves as a
clear referent in the world of Google Map users.
For the people who are familiar with the discourse
of virtual map quests, this project and Bartholl's
various performances - real and virtual - provide
an opportunity to reexamine our fixed notion of
division between the real and the virtual. Such

lation of the real - in his terminology, a hyperreal ingenious performances also subvert our notion
construct. of hierarchy between the real and the virtual from
"rea I/virtual "to "virtual/real."
Bartholl's appropriation of virtual game scenes
and recontextualization of them into the physical
As illustrated in the example here, the platform
world serves as an example of discourse forofthe
Bartholl's performance is clearly not limited to
digital generation to examine their notions
theof
streets. As a creative performer attuned to
reality and the effect of their previous experiences
the technologies of the 21st century, Bartholl also
uses different computer-mediated communica-
in a virtual reality system or game on their percep-
tions of the world. With the online and offlinetions
so not only as a channel of communication but
tightly intertwined, it might no longer be ofalso
anyas an additional arena of performance. While
significance for educators to ask digital genera-
his performances take place on the street, he also
tions to distinguish the two spaces and evaluate
shares videos of his work before and during such
them separately. Educators need to recognize
performances via the Web. One can easily find
the extent to which digital technologies affect
his work on YouTube and read his postings in the
students' and teachers' ways of thinkingdiscussion
and board. In other words, both his contents
constructing meaning and reality. and his format are centered on the notion of inter-
action between the "real" and the "virtual." This is
Another work of Barinoli, titled "Map" (2006)
also makes a similar point. In this project, he
distinctively different from other common Web
resources of art exhibitions wherein online mate-
builds a physical sign of the Google Maps symbol

Studies in Art Education I Volume 51, No. 1 31

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 rials serve as a copy (or catalog) of the artwork. The With this new conceptualization of art - which
continuous interaction between the artist and the is being stretched and made more salient with
audience in itself becomes a part of the project. emerging online technologies and audiences -
The process is the product - the continuous erup- arises the need for different methods of interpre-
tions in the dividing line between the real/physical tation and analysis.
and the virtual. As with the younger generations The application of social semiotics and
today who seem to move effortlessly between the discourse analysis to decoding postmodern street
physical and virtual worlds and from one tech- performance yields critical insights into how
nology to another, it is fascinating to observe how meaning is socially constructed, generated, and
in this new age, artists like Bartholl can innovatively utilized in a particular context of discourse. In this
move between the offline and virtual platforms for regard, art educators should pay attention to the
artistic performances and communication. specific context and the social effects of meaning
Conclusion construction when guiding students to examine
Unlike institutionalized art housed in an art a postmodern street work of art and approach
it as a site of ideological struggle where shared,
museum permeating with the formalist art aura,
conflicting, and competing meanings co-exist. In
postmodern street art is circulated through the
order for students to understand how the post-
streets to actively engage the public in civic dialog
modern art form serves as a visual discourse that
and action. Postmodern street art operates under a
communicates to its audience, it is important for
new set of references, which requires art educators
them to investigate the kinds of rules and conven-
and researchers to adopt alternative analytical
tions within specific contexts that are used to
frameworks in order to understand its meanings.
define and interpret art. Understanding art requires
In this article, we have given an overview of
participation in the discourse within which the
social semiotics and critical discourse analysis as
applicable to postmodern street performances. work is situated, generated, and disseminated. Of
course, as new forms of expression and commu-
In addition, we provided examples of analysis of
Aram Bartholl's work to show the relevance of nication emerge, both physical-world and virtual,

these analyses to postmodern street art interpre-viewer understanding can be simultaneously

tation. By doing so, we aimed to respond to the limited by such previous experiences, exposure,
growing need for research on how networked and participation.

digital technologies contribute to new forms of Another insight garnered from semiotic
perspectives on Bartholl's work is the notion of
creation and critique in art education (Sweeney,
recontextualization and defamiliarization brought
2004). We believe that the employment of social
semiotics and discourse analysis can provide
to light in the space between the real/physical and
more reflexive ways for understanding street artthe virtual. This conceptual space is where new
knowledge and understanding takes form. For
practices that use "non-traditional" representation
those observing educational ramifications of this
formats. Unlike his counterparts in the traditional
art world, Aram Bartholl can be seen as a media-movement, it is likely that students would draw
hybrid collagist who illuminates questions andon a familiar knowledge/discourse to engage in
artistic practices or solve problems in the given
issues related to forms of reality through a series
of process-oriented performances. As an exampleart room. The defamiliarization of such discourse is
necessary for students to expand their knowledge
of 'dialogic art' (Alexander, 2004), Bartholl's works
show the unconventional methods of appropri- horizons in understanding postmodern art and
visual culture. Bartholl's recontextualization of
ation, pubic intervention, and guerrilla commu-
nication to stimulate a civic dialogue and action.
virtual game scenes into the physical world serves

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as an example where the digital generation audi-
ences are asked to revisit their notions of the reality
as well as of the virtual.
As this occurs, myriad questions and issues
surface. For instance, what knowledge of art and
visual culture is generated from such a recontextu-
alized practice? More specifically, how will virtual
street art become instantiated, evolve, and be inter-
preted? The issue of legitimacy, public disturbance
vs. art, is a related topic that requires art educators
to take a closer look. When street artists use public
spaces as their artistic platforms, how do we as
art educators differentiate between public distur-
bance and artistic practice? How would street art
maintain its discourse without utilizing a public
space or forum? Will online street performances
be more or less disturbing or provocative than that
witnessed in physical streets? These will be among
the key topics of our future research.

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ENDNOTE

1 See Garoian (1 999) for more discussion on McEvilley's definition of appropriation.

Studies in Art Education I Volume 51 , No. 1 35

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