Affordance and Ton: The meaning-carriers of semiosis
Affordance and Ton: The meaning-carriers of semiosis

Summary/Abstract: In his article, the distinction between an affordance and a Ton is explored, and the role of the environment in the transformation of objective characteristics into species-specific meaning-making qualities is highlighted. The goal of this article is to broaden the theoretical concept of affordances, as it relates to the designer’s creative process of an artifact and the user’s semiosis of the designed artifact. An affordance occurs as a result of a relation between two or more subsystems that objectively exist in physical reality, and the affordance is enacted by a user during the subjective reality’s perceptual functioning (umwelt). A Ton, on the other hand, emerges and exists within the subjective user’s umwelt; the user must learn, recall, and understand what the object signifies as a meaning-carrier. Overall, environmental boundaries orient the quintessential function of translating quantitative characteristics into qualitative polysemic qualities. Kozicki’s central research focus aims at providing a deeper theoretical understanding of the design of techno-living spaces. His research for this topic constructs a transdisciplinary approach that provides insight on how we, as creators and users, are living within technology, which allows for a novel approach to modelling how perception and meaning-making acts are changing with the continual development of techno-living spaces. His most recent work related to this topic “Umwelt in an umwelt: Co-developing within immersive virtual environments and the paradoxical nature of reality and hyperreality” can be found in Signs Systems Studies. Beyond the modelling of techno-living spaces, Kozicki also focuses on cultural psychology research, such as the role of inner speech during the interpretation process of artistic texts, and the semiotic scaffolding of value relations (see “Emergent imputative symbols: in one word”, upcoming in Jaan Valsiner’s anthology about dynamic semiosis).

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