The visual semiotics has been accomplished according to formal styles of visual arts have become diversified. One of the factors that change is ‘perception’ of the problem, it becomes interest in the new potential between subject and reality, etc. are the other reasons. In these the perception discussions are acknowledged in phenomemological semiotics by Coquet also semiotics of passions studied by Greimas and Fontanille. Coquet claims that the perception is caused in the pre-reflective stage from the subjective point of view. Furthermore, Greimas considers that the perception as having an important role in the tensive space ―the level of pre-conditions― where nothing is segmentalized yet and which is established for studying semiotic systems of meanings to give rise to passions. It is the reason that we can understand the tensive space through only the perception. Two semioticians defined these concepts of perception, which are consistent with phenomenology's perception. In this phenomenology thesis comes from especially Meleau-Ponty.
Meleau-Ponty claims that we perceive the real world through the ‘corps proper’ which synthesizes perceptual consciousness and intellectual consciousness, that is, synthesis of perception and rationalizations. Similarly, the visual perception also practically is synthesized visible things and invisible things by movements of corps proper. Along these lines, this study makes questions how visual semiotics emerges to consider perception.
The semiotics of plastic arts based on pre-Greimasian studies, it brings in the relationship of perceptual consciousness and intellectual consciousness emphasized by Meleau-Ponty; it is relay on perspectives of perceptual consciousness and intellectual consciousness. The relation forms the foundation for connecting the perception of plastic forms and semiotical semiosis. Furthermore, the phenomenological perception is considered to let us understand meanings of the plastic forms. On the contrary, Fontanille more actively accepts the phenomenological perception than Floch's semiotics of the plastic arts, and he constructed to the semiotics of the visible things—Sémiotique du visible. Because Fontanille's semiotics is fonunded on the semiotics of the passions, perception has an important effect to its methods of semiosis. Moreover, to reify the concept of perception, Fontanille sets up the proprioceptive perceptions which create a link between the exteroceptions and the introceptions; they synthesize the former perceived physical things and the latter perceived some concepts or emotions through corps proper. In terms of visual aspects, these proprioceptive perceptions are affected by lights. Fontanille is mentioned the lights that is no signification of icons or natural sciences, while they are capable of being perceived and having semiosis with relatively intensity and extent. To explain the lights, he defines characters of the meaning effects of four configurations; sparkle(l'éclat), lighting(l'éclairage), colors, and materials of light(lumière-matière). These four effects of meanings defined by Fontanille, and he claims that subjects in the visible world are able to perceive these effects.
Until now, many researchers have given skeptical responses to semiotical analysis, and most of their questions are whether it is possible to explain colors, shapes, volumes and shadows etc. by verbal language. To solve this question, semiotics of the lights suggests the perception of some phenomena which can't be explained by verbal language but clearly exist, so this semiotic is helpful for visual perception in visual arts to understanding ways. Also this study based on future research, which will be expected to develop the study on effects and meanings of visual perception on art.