Semiotics - No Bull

This image shows a metal statue made to look like a bull. The signifier here is the actual image, and the word bull that we associate with it. However, neither of these fully tells us quite what this object really means.

The bull represents the New York financial district, in a basic sense, but it means much more than that. If you look at this bull, it looks like it is in motion. It is ready to charge, ready to move. Nothing surrounds it, so there is nothing to hold it back. Apply these observations to what it represents, and we see that it means the financial district is also full of motion, passion, and even competition. This bull does not look like it plays well with others. It fends for itself, as does the financial district. 

But this photo has other elements besides the bull itself. Behind it, you can see tourists taking pictures with its rear end. They are laughing. I think this signifies the residual feelings from the Occupy Wall Street events a few years ago. Many people picketed for usurping the financial inequalities that the financial district was ripe with, and frankly, didn't mind having. However, it seems like the movement and the overall grandeur of the bull is not what these people are there for. No, they are there for amusement.