007 · Zero Degree

01 Jun, 2026

°

The zero degree is therefore not a total absence (this is a common mistake), it is a significant absence. We have here a pure differential state; the zero degree testifies to the power held by any system of signs, of creating meaning 'out of nothing': 'the language can be con­tent with an opposition of something and nothing.¹

Paragraph break ≠ fragment break.

Fragment break = °

° = Zero Degree

° = ‘pure differential state’

°/ fragment

° = /

The fragment does not stand alone but exists in constellation with other fragments. The fragment pushes against the hierarchy of signification.

The ‘zero degree’ serves as a baseline or foundational state from which meaning emerges through oppositions or differentials rather than through embellishment or elaboration. The ‘zero degree’ is the barre oblique. It separates but also connects.

You are looking at a white canvas. At first glance, it might appear to be ‘nothing.’ But when placed in a gallery (amongst other fragments), the ‘nothing’ becomes ‘something’— it starts to convey meaning by its context and by its contrast to other works of art (other fragments) that do have explicit features like colour, texture, and form.

The intention is:

To reduce the functioning of the meaning to the alterna­tive of two polar elements or to the opposition of a mark and a zero degree. This leads us to remind the reader once more that the most vexed question connected with paradigms is that of the binary principle.²

° = °

° / °