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14 October 2013

When is an icon, an icon?



Icons are symbols which represent an object in a literal sense.  
But over the past several decades due to the rising fascination with the notion of celebrity, 
the word ‘Icon’ has come to represent or encapsulate qualities of a person whose talent or persona is charismatic to the masses.

The theory of semiotics, which includes the definition of an icon, was developed in part by Charles S. Peirce in the late 19th century. 
It states that: an icon uses shape, colour, sound, texture, and other graphic elements to create a recognisable connection between an image and an idea. 
Icons are likeness that convey the idea of the thing they represent by imitating them -
 such as a photograph or illustration of something.

Of late, shiftazine keeps coming across pictures of religious icons...primarily that of Jesus.  
Examples of this ‘holy’ image have been found in second hand clothes stores in Berlin, a car boot market in Melbourne and in interesting ‘tat’ stores like Seasonal Concepts in Sydney.

They are strange in that they are not a secular object, and represent supposedly a philosophical belief, and yet 
there they sit, in very secular situations waiting to be bought by some person who sees their beauty other than a religious one.  

Is there a theme happening here?  Is there a need for a sense of ‘mystery’ in people’s lives?