The Semiotics of the Digital Image

Western formalism and postmodernist theory do not provide an adequate framework for interpreting many forms of digital art. Using artwork from the 1950s to the present, the author shows how the semiotic structure of the digital image defines a new visual aesthetic in which symbols become interpretations of symbols, and multiple levels of graphic encoding take on discursive characteristics similar to linguistic syntax. The author examines the semiotics of the digital image within the context of philosophical developments in mathematics and science.