Magritte’s image implies the process of signification or semiotics (the study of signs) because upon viewing the pipe, one automatically associates the idea of the pipe with a larger concept. This larger concept, I argue, is that the pipe signifies wealthy, older males with power or authority, for example Hugh Heffner. In terms of cultural studies, the pipe represents the myth of the Man, as signifiers construct cultural mythologies. Magritte’s picture of a pipe, accompanied by the words “this is not a pipe” provokes thought regarding perception verses real life and challenges our pre-established perceptions of reality, in effect changing the way in which we construct our view of the world--which is what cultural studies is all about.
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