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The CODE-X series catalogs a vast codex of source codes (aka “signs”) extracted from past audits.
The object of study in semiotics is not the signs but rather a general theory of signification; the goal of each “audit” is to build a model demonstrating how meaning is produced and received within a category or cultural territory. Signs on their own, therefore, only become truly revelatory and useful once we’ve sorted them into thematic complexes, and the complexes into codes, and the codes into a meaning map. We call this process “thick description”; the Code-X series is thin description.
“BACK TO BASICS” NORM: Civilization isn’t all it’s cracked up to be — it’s important to stay in touch with our primitive roots.
“BACK TO BASICS” FORMS: Men and women practicing bygone survival skills, wearing primitive clothing, living wild. Exhortations to be natural/wild: “Your inner wild is calling,” “Action — Naturally Made.”