• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2003

A semiotic approach to modem visual arts has emerged since French post-structuralism was introduced to Anglo -American academics by "deconstruction" or "postmodemi sm." It views a work of art as a sign, which is its math odical assumption and, at the same time, makes its appli cation more accessible. In the milieu of modem visual arts' effort to be intimate with general audience, modem art photography is now fared with the request to be a familar and universal domain, instead of being left only in photo books as artistic and academic achievements. More specifically, various photo images puter graphics to such megaexhibitions as "Gwangju Biennale,. "Media City Seo ul," and "Pusan International Art Festival," are main objects of study. A coherent and scientific analysis of visual semitotics is still on the way, however, it is an urgent task how to read and interpret a photo image with multiple meanings. This study argues that visual seniotics can be a powerful tool to enhance the understanding of art photography. After all, seniotics is a product of age； we live in the age of legibility, that is, of reading the work of art well as the social events and phenomena. art well as the social events and phenomena.