Adopting the familiar format of a television cooking show, Semiotics of the Kitchen opens with a woman in a kitchen, portrayed by the artist as a kind of anti-Julia Child. She begins to name pieces of kitchen equipment in alphabetical order, starting with the letter A. As she identifies each utensil, she mimes its use, replacing the cheerful ease with which food preparation is typically depicted with gestures of gradually intensifying, though suppressed, rage. The rigid format of the demonstration riffs on the deadpan look of Conceptual art, while commenting sardonically on the notion that women ought to find personal fulfillment in the kitchen.