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.

“MARKED MAN” NORM: Marked as a social outcast — not just psychologically but physically.

“MARKED MAN” FORMS: The marked person’s destiny is fixed — they can’t do otherwise than what they do. A prominent tattoo might be a self-inflicted mark, demonstrating one’s contempt for the norms and forms of civilization. Missing fingers, other deformities often a sign of a past life as a soldier or outlaw. In Unforgiven, William Munny finds common ground with Delilah: “We’ve got scars.” He wants her to know that she can survive and make a new life.

From a 2024 study of the PREDATOR (defined as: rebellious and unorthodox, rewriting the rules to suit yourself) territory within the American West space — as surfaced from movies, TV shows, and videogames. Semiovox collaborated with Ramona Lyons.