The Saussurean process of meaning production was very prevalent in the discussion of the Preved meme. It illustrated how new meanings are created by putting the same pattern into a different context. Or in other words how he value of a sign depends on the relationship between that sign and other signs in the system as a whole. The value of a sign is composed of a dissimilar thing that it can be exchanged for and of similar things they can be compared with. The content of the sign, its identity is only fixed by everything that exists outside it. Within language, whether it be visual or verbal, all signs used to express related ideas limit each other reciprocally. Which means that they are not defined positively, by their content, but negatively in being what others are not.
During the lesson this process was illustrated by a series of variations on ‘Unexpected Visitors’ by Ilia Repin where people replaced the figures in the painting by others therefore changing the original meaning of the painting and the figures who appeared in this new framework. At the same time the frame will transform because of its new content:




But this mechanism is used as well to innovate the artworld itself. An example of this are the avant-garde from the beginning of the century; Picasso and Bracque in France and figures as Malevich in Russia took the well known frame of the still life and gave it an entirely new content thereby transforming the meaning of the painting.



Or rendered the known in a way that was alien for the public at the time:



For the assignment regarding to the toilet paper I propose printing something as this on the paper:
Taoism Shit happens.



and: Buddhism If shit happens, it isn't really shit.
Zen What is the sound of shit happening?
Hinduism This shit happened before.
Islam If shit happens, it is the will of Allah.
Protestantism Let shit happen to someone else.
Catholicism If shit happens, you deserve it.
Judaism Why does this shit always happen to us?
Atheism I don't believe this shit.
Agnosticism What is this shit?

And on the toilet role:


life is like toiletpaper, you waste it all