This Is Not a Pipe: Chapters 1 & 2

In Foucault's essay "This is Not a Pipe," he analyzes Rene Magritte's painting of a pipe with a French text underneath that translates to "This is not a pipe." Foucault notes that the painting serves as a calligram, a device that attempts to use language as a form of art. The drawing of the pipe and the underlying text present a paradox that causes the viewer to really think about whether or not what he is looking at is indeed a pipe. However, upon further inspection and thought the painting can be processed in many different ways. The pipe is simply a visual representation of an actual pipe and is therefore, not a pipe. Furthermore, inspection of the text shows that the sentence itself is not a pipe and the word this in the sentence "this is not a pipe" is also not a pipe. Foucault states that "the painting, written sentence, drawing of a pipe" are all not a pipe. This apparent contradiction breaks down the mundane boundaries of what "is" and what "isn't" and causes the line between art and abstraction to blur.

Foucault talks about the visualization of the text "This is not a pipe" and uses drawings that combine words and pictures to describe the calligram. However, how are the letters of the text and the meaning of the sentence used to represent the visualization of the pipe?