Week 3 Meaning

The Batman crest is an interesting representation in a few ways. The first, and surface layer of meaning is simply the stylized image of the bat. Image is not of a fruit bat, or a specific characterized bat, it's a general representation that invokes bat-ness through retaining and stylizing the ears of the bat and the wings. As a representation it is also indicative of the character himself. Batman does not look like image on his chest but due to his legacy as a pop culture icon, he is also represented by the image of the bat. The Batman logo has gone through many iterations in it's lifetime but in spite of the variations, it's connotations are still the same. This is a representation of a bat and has become a symbol of the caped crusader. 

Chairs are one of my favorite examples of physical representations of an abstract concept. The shape of a chair is essentially the physical version of the verb "to sit." From the earliest age, we can look at a chair and understand it's function. In particular, this chair, a design indicative of the Arts and Crafts movement, is simple and spares the chair from representing anything other than function. The shape itself, mimics the body once it's sitting, further highlighting the representation of the action.  In contrast to say, a stool or an unusually smooth rock, which one can also sit on, the back of the chair mimics the back of a sitting person, giving the person doing the sitting action, something to lean against. 

The Star of David has a long history of both good and bad symbolism. While the symbol is linked quite heavily to the jewish faith, this was not the case until very recently. Until very recently, the jewish people was not only considered a faith but a race as well. The symbol of the star itself links back to a story of the shield of Abraham, the man considered the father of the Jewish nation. During a battle Abraham's shield- a triangle pointing up to symbolize everything coming to God- fused to a rival king's shield-  a triangle pointed down, symbolizing everything coming to him. The fused triangles created the star shape we recognize today. The star- later taken as a symbol of King David who became a leader of the jewish people. This gold star symbol in particular was used by the Nazis during the Holocaust to differentiate between christian citizens and jewish. Because of the diaspora, Judaism was not relegated to one specific race and therefore, a symbol was needed, thus transforming it into a faith symbol more than racial. The symbol itself, comprised of two triangles along with the gold color creates a distinctive and strong shape that is easily and quickly recognizable.