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phonetic “be conscious”) (Fourie, 2009). The code utilised for determining the signified is the English definition of the phrase “be conscious”, which means a state of awakening or being alert. The function of the word (in the context of the pure image of “Bikonscious” and not the t-shirt in its entirety) is referential as it serves as the primary information conveyed by the designer. Interpreting the meanings of the stylistic representation the red “Biko” draws from the knowledge of the South African political history, in determining the referent as the surname of the late Steve Bantu Biko. The influence of Steve Biko also serves as a knowledge framework of Magents as de Villiers makes reference to Biko’s writing about fear in South African politics I write what I like (Biko, 1981b) in expressing the Magents’ brand ethos (de Villiers, More Than Just Food, 2015a).
No further code is required to determine the signified as the surname Biko. The mode of signification is therefore iconic, as the signifier “Biko” resembles the signified of the surname Biko (Chandler, 1994). The red “Biko” serves as the metalingual function as it serves as a code for the interpretation of the pure image “Bikonscious” (Jakobson, 1960). This also serves as a further relation of production, as it contextualises the manner in which the designer articulates the design concept into a garment.
Interpreting the referent and signified of the pure image “Bikonscious” as a signifier, utilises the above-mentioned knowledge in two ways. Firstly, the knowledge that the stylistic representation serves as a relation of production reveals the referent as the phrase “be conscious”. Secondly, the signified meaning of the red and black stylistic representation serves as a code for determining the signified of Biko’s concept of consciousness. Black conscious was a movement that served part of the many of resistance movements during the apartheid era in South Africa (Gerhart, 2008).
Black consciousness is an attitude of mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time. Its essence is the realisation by the black man of the need to rally together with his brothers around the cause of their oppression – the blackness of their skin – and to operate as a group to rid themselves of the shackles that bind them to perpetual servitude. It is based on a self-examination, which has ultimately led them to believe that by seeking to run away from themselves emulate the white man; they are insuring the intelligence of
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whoever created them black. The philosophy of the black consciousness therefore expresses group pride.
(Biko, 1981a: 137)
The relationship between referent and signifier yields an indexical signification of Biko’s above definition of black consciousness. The stylistic representation of the sign “Bikonscious” as part of the greater linguistic message “Bikonscious Social Club Inc.” highlights the signification of ideology of black consciousness, thus serving a poetic function (Chandler, 1994). This use of an amalgamation of signifiers in one sign to reference an ideology associated with a person, rather than the person, is similar to the amalgamation of signifiers in the ‘Are You Still With Me’ t-shirt.
The entire linguistic message “Bikonscious Social Club Inc.” is an indexical signifier of The Buena Vista Social Club. Knowledge of a musical group of the same name, or the documentary about the group of the same name reveals the mode of signification established through the similarity of the signifier and its referent. The referent, Buena Vista Social Club, is largely associated the Cuban musical group, musical album (González and Cooder, 1997), and documentary by Wim Wenders (1988). A transcript of an interview with Ry Cooder (a guitarist in the band) reveals the significance of the name, as a reference to the song Buena Vista Social Club by Orestes López (father to band member Israel López), and a real fraternal social club of the same name in the in Havana Cuba (Cooder, Pacifica Radio, 2000). “At the Buena Vista Social Club, musicians went there to hang out with each other, like they used to do at musicians unions in the US and they’d have dances and activities” (Cooder, Pacifica Radio, Cooder, 2000). The social club was for Afro-Cubans living in Mariano Havana during the 1940s and 1950s, one of the members being López’s father.
To name a recoding after a social club whose members were black Cubans was symbolic of the social apartheid many musicians had suffered before the 1959 Revolution and significant in itself
(Fairley, 2009: 10)
The linguistic message when further analysed according to this knowledge reveals a contemporary meaning. The replacement of “Buena Vista” with “Bikonscious” signifies the notion of a revival of the black consciousness in contemporary society. The notion of social
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club alludes to the Buena Vista Social Club, where membership was largely based upon ethnicity. The black consciousness was a non-violent movement that called for the psychological reawakening and mental emancipation of black people, which was viewed as a direct threat against the dominant apartheid ideology (Biko, 1981a).
The Buena Vista club membership was more than just a social club, but a celebration of Afro- Cubans’ ethnic pride, and a fraternity (Oberacker, 2008; Fairley, 2009); in this sense, the phrase serves as a narrative of how to keep Steve Biko’s teaching alive in contemporary South Africa, that it is not necessarily through political uprising but communal support. The interview conducted with de Villiers further revealed that the t-shirt signifies Cuban socialism,
In Cuba the one ruled over and still rules the many, this system now call it is normally socialism, or communism or one of those phrases or terms that we use and of course people interpreted it differently. In socialism the one says no we as a government will rule you like this, you all get the same and they are benefiting from that, great benefits that democracy cannot achieve because of the greed of the man. […] So that is on the Bikonscious, on the social part [in reference to the “social” linguistic message on the t-shirt] is a little off [Fidel] Castro who also helped the ANC to fight the apartheid government and he was also pro-Madiba. He helped us a lot in South Africa but it’s just a play on that.
(de Villiers, Skype, 2016)
The visual message of the bicycle seems an arbitrary signification, as there exists no connection between the meaning of the bicycle and the meaning of the linguistic text (Fourie, 2009). It highlights the absent depiction of Biko’s image that has become commonplace in many graphic t-shirts. At first the bicycle conjures up the notion the green movement. The designer’s relations of production reveal that the brand conveys set themes through their clothing (de Villiers, 2013), which informs the assumption that the visual message is a further theme. These themes are visible, in the ‘Are You Still With Me’ t-shirt as part of the narrative about Mandela with t-shirt
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‘HiStory’ (Figure 6.11 and the rearticulating of the question derived from the ‘Eyes of Biko’ t- shirt (Figure 6.9`).
Figure 6.11: HiStory T-shirt
Source: Magents Lifestyle Apparel, Instagram, 18 November 2014
A brief search of past designs reveals that the bicycle forms part of a greater narrative for the designers with the image of the bicycle being part of the ‘African Bicycle Club’ t-shirt (Figure 6.12).
Figure 6.12: African Bicycle Company t-shirt
Source: African Look Book, AfricanLookbook.com, 2016
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‘The African Bicycle Company’ t-shirt was inspired by the African Renaissance speech of former present Thabo Mbeki (de Villiers, Skype, 2016). The bicycle of the ‘Bikonscious Social Club’ t-shirt is different to that on the ‘African Bicycle Company’ t-shirt further informing the assumption of arbitrary signification. The bicycle is the central image on the t-shirt, serving as a phatic function – the first point of communication. From the researcher’s assumed perspective of the designer, the centrality of the image and the assumed arbitrary signification brings to mind the theoretical assumption that consumers rarely comprehend the meaning of their clothing (Barnard, 1996; 2011). This informs the assumption that the use of the bicycle as a phatic signification draws in the ‘bicycle loving consumers’ to purchase the t-shirt, only for them to realise the true meaning of the t-shirt once they start wearing it. As the designers are located in Cape Town this the image is interpreted as reference to the city’s known environmental policies and the pioneer for the inclusion of bicycle lanes in South Africa. The assumption could not be proven through analysis along, and the interview confirmed this assumption. “Guys that buy the t-shirt they think it says buy conscious [...] They think that and we don’t want to interrupt them” (de Villiers, Skype, 2016). Graphic designer Mothei Letlabika, further confirmed the phatic nature of the image, “They think that and there is an actual bike there” (Letlabika, Skype, 2016). Letlabika, also revealed the poetic signification of the bicycle in stating,
For us having a bike there it was a representation of [our target market] as a kid, you felt that you were part of your whatever group of friends you may have been amongst, so you were like that group. […]. So in some essence you feel like it was kind of like a social thing to have a bike. It's about that club as represented on there, but as well the fact that we didn't use his [Biko] face. I think it would be kind of a good conversation starter, because you don't want to make it obvious and have Biko’s face there. So rather have something else that will be a representative or something that can us as people can relate with. That in essence starts to conjure up a conversation about why, who is Biko.
(Letlabika, Skype, 2016)
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