Showing signs

About a year ago I was invited to a Christmas family gathering where two young nephews performed a magic show. During one particular performance, one of the 'magicians' used his coat as a magician's cloth to misdirect our attention from the sleight-of-hand taking place beneath. While this use of props is nothing spectacular or unusual, what it demonstrates is that children will use any type of object in support of their play. More importantly, however, the object will often be a representation of something real and tangible that suits the play theme, in this case a magic show.

Symbolic representation, while not exclusive to the human species, is predominantly a human characteristic that we have been engaged in for thousands of years. It can be identified in structural effigies such as statues, monuments and gravestones; works of art, including paintings, architecture, and music; language, both written, spoken and non-verbal forms; personal, social, cultural and global identity, ie bodily ornaments, flags, anthems, religions, foods and cultural dress; and institutional symbolism, for example product branding or company logos.